Augustine, Lawyers & the Lost Virtue of Humility

The leading edge of legal scholarship and practice in recent decades has evinced a commitment to progressive politics at the expense of constitutional governance, the rule of law, and justice understood as vindication of the reasonable expectations of both the public and the parties to any given case or controversy. This article argues that renewed understanding of the virtue of humility, rooted in a genuine concern to do good according to one’s abilities, rights, and duties, is essential to the maintenance of decency in the legal profession and society as a whole. Such virtue is allowed, if not required, by existing rules and procedures, especially those encapsulated in the Model Rules of Professional Conduct (MRPC). It is undermined by lawyerly pride in the capacity of particular lawyers to determine what is good for society and pursue it through social activism masquerading as client service.