Publication Date
5-28-2025
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Last night’s keynote speaker—Mary Smith—suggested that there is often a connection between working with individuals (i.e., being an advocate) and seeking systemic change.1 Those connections rarely occur at the same time, during the same transactions. They seldom overlap They might not even be sequentially connected in time, but they are connected. One prepares you for the other—direct service lays the groundwork for system change.
For the first twenty years of our organization’s history, we focused solely on individual representation—on being someone’s lawyer as they faced a criminal charge. We did that work, and continue to represent individuals, in an iconoclastic manner. Our direct service work has defied traditional professional dictates. That work, which I will explain in more detail, did more than simply supply us with the knowledge and experience in the criminal justice system. Pushing the traditional boundaries of the attorney-client relationship gave us the confidence to do more, to create more, and to innovate more.
I believe I was asked to contribute to this conversation, however, because of how Georgia Justice Project2 (“GJP”) seeks to improve the legal system
Recommended Citation
Ammar, Douglas B.
(2025)
"Professional Roles Expanded: Holistic, Systemic, & Optimistic Lawyering,"
Mercer Law Review: Vol. 76:
No.
3, Article 13.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.law.mercer.edu/jour_mlr/vol76/iss3/13