"As a lawyer, I belong to a profession that is supposed to be dedicated to service -- to justice, to my clients, to due process, to the rule of law. It's really not fundamentally about me.
"Of course, like everyone else, I need to earn my living as well -- which I do personally by teaching law, mainly constitutional law, at the law school at UMass Dartmouth. And so I should also be of service to my students, who are my ultimate employer. Occasionally, I also handle cases and causes I believe in pro bono, on a volunteer basis for the sake of the good I might accomplish. In some ways, my regular salary gives me the freedom, which many others do not have, to try to be helpful in that way.
"The temptation, though, is to view my profession as law professor as some kind of self-justifying status or end in itself, as if our legal justice system and university structure of legal education were meant to serve me and my kind, rather than the other way around. A calling to serve others risks becoming, sadly in that eventuality, a form of self-service. I think we need to be reminded of the importance of service and of the serving professions, since our natural tendency is to always think of Number One, what's in it for me."
In a recent commentary, Dwight G. Duncan, professor at UMass School of Law Dartmouth, reflected on our call to follow the example of Jesus in serving others.
To access Professor Duncan's complete post, please visit:
The Boston Pilot: Echoes: To serve or not to serve -- that is the question. (26 SEP 14)
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