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Franz Kafka illustrates in his passages the idea of the superiority of law and its legal actors. His passages about the power of law can be applied to legal actors in todays society, especially lawyers and attorneys. Lawyers, who can also be considered nobility, and agents of justice, have an advantage over non-legal actors, Kafka argues. In Kafka's passage, Before the Law, he tells a parable involving a gatekeeper and a regular civilian man.
The gatekeeper, who is guarding a door, can be seen as representing a lawyer. The civilian man can be seen as an individual who has constant run-ins with the law and is seeking professional legal help. Although, his conquest will not be that easy. The door represents the barrier that is before the civilian man in regard to his legal issues. On the other side of the door is justice for the man and moral law.
Since the man is coming and begging the gatekeeper to let him through the door, the man can be said to be inferior to the lawyer and most likely be a man of not many personal resources or exuberant wit. Resources being money and power to receive exceptional legal service. The lawyer, standing at the gate tells the man that he cannot be immediately granted entrance thru the door and says it is possible in the future. The lawyer is looking to hold on to this potential case, in hopes that it may be monetarily profitable to him in the end. Although the lawyer illustrates his level of power within the system to the man, he also tells him that as a lawyer, he is only the lowest doorkeeper. There are more powerful guards within the system, such as judges and policemen.
He, being a lawyer, is only considered a mere courier for these higher players... couriers who hurry about the world, shouting to each other- since there are no kings- messages that have become meaningless (BTL xx). The lawyer simply engages in heated debates with his / her co-counsel to see who can give out the most exceptional performance to reach a verdict. The man, not too powerful, with legal citations hanging over his head, feels the door should be open at all times and accessible to all ranges of men, because every man is deserving of a little legal defense and assistance. The lawyer, putting the man to the side of the door and sitting him on a stool, asks him a series of questions, and does so very impersonally.
This can be looked at as a lawyer to client interrogation session. The lawyer inquires with the man before taking the case, to find out how rewarding it will be for him to defend this man. The client on the other hand, is willing to sacrifice his all for representation from the lawyer, putting up his most valuable belongings. Legal help from a lawyer can be extremely costly depending on the nature of the case. This man spends his whole life beside the lawyer, without reaching final success. The client becoming intimidated and distracted by the unsatisfactory outcome of the law, proceeds to ask the lawyer how he can gain access through the doorway.
What the client should know by now is that the power within the legal hierarchy is the only way you can attain lifelong success. The lawyer uses his tactic to deny the client by shutting the door and throwing the fact in the lawyers face that the door was intended for him to walk through the whole time. What a slap in the face! How is this civilian, legally uneducated member of society, supposed to be crafty enough to pull strings within the system and know how to gain access to justice? Kafka's Dialogue Between a Priest and K, reviews the lawyers behavior toward his client, or the gatekeepers attitude towards the man. The following quote emphasizes the idea that some lawyers today are in the game for their own personal profit and are striving to reap all the wrong benefits of the legal system.
The doorkeeper gave the message of salvation to the man only when it could no longer help him (BTL xiv). Basically, the lawyer tells the once potential client that he could have helped him get out of his legal mess, although decided to discard of the case because it was not very worthy to him or his caliber of defense. Many propose the question, Did the gatekeeper (or lawyer) perform his proper duty? Did he serve in the best interest of justice for the state by denying this man in need? K, in the article, feels the lawyers duties were not correctly fulfilled. This represents a common societal view that we as a people have of lawyers as actors within the criminal justice system.
K feels the man should have been let through the door. K also detects immoral activity on the lawyers part by proposing the idea to the man of future admittance through the door. Kafka says the doorkeeper is exceeding his duty, trying too hard at this point to bargain the potential client, for later personal benefits. There are references within this article that illustrate a common demeanor of this and other, lawyers in our society. It can be seen that the lawyer practices extreme dedication to his profession, by not leaving his post at the gate for many years. This supports the fact that lawyers usually make law their life, by changing their way of thinking and previous morals and ethics.
The lawyer is definitely aware of how much power he possesses within the system... for he says: I am powerful; he is respectful to his superiors, for he says: I am only the lowest doorkeeper (BTL xv). Emotions are not to get in the way of an attorneys trial performance, he is to not be moved by pity or rage. One statement many can agree with is that the lawyer possesses much conceit. This can be seen through the gatekeepers statements about his and other legal actors power. Legal actors work together to monopolize the legal system.
They all fit into the legal pyramid somewhere, some higher than others. The idea that there is a need in todays society for better legal education is also expressed. Simple mindedness and conceit break down the gatekeepers defense of the door, or his client. Although lawyers must go to law school, a lot of them are not properly trained or adopt themselves an unethical attitude when practicing, that causes them to be closer to being defeated in the courtroom. People, or clients, often expect way too much from their lawyers, and are disappointed when the verdict comes out. The following quote can back this statement up.
At any rate the figure of the doorkeeper can be said to come out very differently from what you fancied (BTL xv). Even though the lawyer may instill in his clients a sense of fear of the other legal actors involved in a case, it is he himself who is frightened by them. The judge makes the final call in each case and competition can get extremely vile between opposing counsels. The conclusion is reached that the lawyer is the delusional one who has let his legal terms and knowledge get to his head, although the man, or client, is still the subordinate one that sits in the stool his whole life, submitting to the rule of law.
Exceptional lawyers work on very profitable, intricate, and beneficial cases often. The gatekeeper depicted in the story waits for his prime suspect to come to him, begging for legal aid, and he can then decide if it will be his prize case. Let it be known though that the lawyer has the legal power to deny any client he wants to. I am now going to shut it (BTL xvi). He closes the case and lets the client sulk in his lack of legal knowledge and possession of personal justice.
The priest in Kafka's passage believes that lawyers are beyond human judgment (BTL xvii). They are superior to man in their decision making. It turns lying into a universal principle (BTL xvii). It is sad to say that some lawyers in the system live by this motto.
In conclusion, I feel that lawyers definitely fit Kafka's ideas of law and its actors. The image of the lawyer as a gatekeeper to justice is very true in our society. Although, if you are a client seeking help, you need to have the proper amount of pull and resources to obtain adequate defense. With lawyers holding such an important and crucial position in society, there are many different views and opinions regarding them. I feel the idea of the gatekeeper guarding the legal threshold, putting on a performance for the common man, is most accurate. Bibliography:
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