History of Love Your Lawyer Day
The earliest people who could be described as “lawyers” were probably the orators of ancient Athens. The most noted historical first text of law is credited to the Babylonian king Hammurabi of Mesopotamia, dating back to the 18th century B.C.
Consisting of 282 laws, the Hammurabi Code described a variety of everyday situations, from punishments to be meted out to criminal offenders to the wages to be paid for services rendered to one another. Initially, lawyers were not allowed to charge any fees, which made earning a living from the law tough. The Roman system allowed for charging fees to change this. Today, modern codes of law are far more involved and convoluted than historical ones, covering every aspect of living within human society.
The lawyer’s job is to help with the understanding of the law and how it affects the rights of the common person, as well as the government. Across many societies, lawyers are perceived as crooked, untruthful, and sly. This isn’t true for every lawyer. There are many lawyers who set out on that career path solely to do good when it is within their power, and who are doing just that. Part of the reason that lawyers have a bad reputation, is that their work most often involves settling issues of conflict and dispute.
In 2001, the national director of the American Lawyers Public Image Association, Nader Anise, a legal marketer, established Love Your Lawyer Day to appreciate lawyers and all they do. The day aims to promote public support for lawyers and judges by presenting them in a more positive light.