Counsel’s Counsel is the world’s preeminent advice column for law students. Written by recent UVA Law graduate, Jane Doe, J.D.
Question:
Hi, I am in the First-Generation Professionals group at UVA Law, and recently a friend of a friend asked if he could join. I’m normally all about outreach, so I told him about the group and told him to come to an event.
Later, I found out that not only are both of his parents professionals, making him not a first-generation professional, they’re both lawyers! That went to UVA Law! After I found that out, I told him that he shouldn’t join the organization. He seemed confused, which made me confused. He said I was “gatekeeping” the organization. That was frustrating. It seemed that he wouldn’t listen to reason when I tried to explain the purpose of the organization.
He’s being some type of way about it because he said one of his parents is retired and the other parent is a professor, so they don’t really count. This isn’t so much an advice question as it is a reality check. How does this person exist? Am I missing something?
Sincerely,
Quite Confused
Answer:
On the surface, it might seem obvious that a person who is by definition not a first-generation professional should not be in the First-Generation Professionals group, but the issue is more complex than that.
Clearly, you are dealing with a privileged person. Privilege has a funny way of blinding people to social dynamics that are apparent to everyone else. We can liken his “blindness” to the very real struggles of blind people, for which our legal framework provides certain measures. In the employment context, the law provides for “reasonable accommodations,” which are designed to make it possible for employees to enjoy equal privileges of employment.
Your colleague’s perspective is a social impairment. Sure, you said they weren’t the right fit for the organization, but gatekeeping is way too strong. At the same time, you are in a position to accommodate your colleague. The question is, is letting a person who is not a first-generation professional into a group for first-generation professionals a “reasonable accommodation”?
There may be some benefit to letting him in. His privilege has led him to be delusional about his place in the world. Perhaps these delusions would provide good contrast for discussions during meetings. In addition, the law is dominated by privileged people delusional about their place in the world. Thus, it is reasonable in the context of a law school student organization to allow him into the group.
Not only is it reasonable, there’s a moral argument for it. We should seek to create a more diverse and inclusive society. Allowing him into the group would certainly increase diversity of background and diversity of thought. Besides, UVA Law has such a strong legacy of collegiality; you don’t want to compromise that, do you? We need to keep students happy so Above the Law keeps writing articles about how great a place UVA Law is to go to school.
Even if you disagree with my reasoning, there may be other benefits to letting him in. When I went to law school, I was floored by the levels of privilege I witnessed. At the beginning, I felt the need to call it out, find trusted people with similar backgrounds to talk to, do something about it.
My perspective changed during a conversation I had with a professor. This professor said something to the effect of, “Worse comes to worst, you can always be fake. Often, it’s in your best interest to be fake. These people are your future clients, for God’s sake. Do you even care about money?”
This piece of advice has done wonders for me. Being something you’re not is a key aspect of practicing law. I can guarantee that at some point in your career, you will be paid to defend an idea that you not only fundamentally disagree with, but that you think would be a detriment to society if applied broadly.
Law school molds people into cogs for use in systems that, despite their benefits, produce a lot of evil. Pick your poison. It could be the military-industrial complex, it could be big oil. Part of dealing with that is learning to be fake. You might consider leaning into that now. You’ll want to be thoroughly cynical by the time you’re on the partner track. -JD
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