Equal Justice for All?
The book titled “Minority Viewpoint – my experience, as a person of color, with the American Justice System”, describes an actual defamation case and how it got started and what happened and everything learned that can be extremely helpful to many average Americans. The story includes several different matters that bring up questions about where things are in terms of our justice system. The book describes the author’s experiences (along with his comments and opinions) about interactions with and observations of hotel employees/managers, police officers, lawyers, law firms, judges, and the Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board (LPRB). Here are some examples:
Hotels are typically extremely concerned about customer satisfaction – one is always encouraged to bring up any issues to the hotel management. So the question is: does the hotel management do anything about a complaint or just ignore it? Most hotels, I believe, take any complaints seriously and follow up on it and make appropriate recommendations, if necessary. However, in this story, it appears that a complaint to the hotel manager might have been the thing that got everything started.
How do lawyers get evaluated for how they performed in a specific case? How does a law firm evaluate one of their lawyers? Can a firm truly evaluate a lawyer’s performance without any feedback from the client?
What really is the role of a Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board? Is the board supposed to try and understand a client’s issues or is the board there basically to defend a lawyer? Isn’t it important for the Board to make sure clients feel somewhat satisfied with the Board’s evaluation of a complaint?
Isn’t it critical that police officers take utmost care when talking to one individual about another individual? Do they understand that what they say about someone can be misunderstood or misinterpreted possibly causing significant issues?
Probably the most concerning are the issues and situations described specifically about interactions with the legal community. What the author experienced here with the legal community is something that likely happens every day all over this country. That is why it is not surprising why the general public often express negative opinions about lawyers and law firms. Why is it that the legal community of lawyers, law firms and boards are okay with this negative image of lawyers? Why are they okay with being known as one of the most untrustworthy professions in the country? Specifically, why are the “professional responsibility” boards across the country okay with this image of the profession?
Sumi Mukherjee is an advocate and an activist focusing on racial equality, mental
health awareness, and prevention of abuse. He is a public speaker and celebrated author who has utilized his platform and personal experiences to inform, educate and inspire people on a global scale. Sumi's highly sought after discussions have allowed him the ability to impact individuals at many levels, having executed close to 100 speaking engagements with an astounding number of organizations around the country and in Canada. In addition he has spoken at Human Rights conferences as well as at universities/colleges/schools and at numerous community events and youth conferences across the United States. For more information on his books and speeches please visit www.authorsumi.com