THE IDEAL LAWYER

Hardy Cross Dillard (1902-1982) was Dean of the Virginia Law School, President of the American Society of International Law and later the American Judge on the International Court of Justice (1970 to 1979). His described the lawyer we aspire to be.

“He combines inspired vision with precise craftsmanship. He is endowed alike with legal imagination and a passion for accuracy. He avoids logical flaws, while understanding the limits of logic as a tool of creative thought.

He seasons knowledge with insight and understanding with humor, while realizing that knowledge and understanding are themselves only the stepping stones to a rarer attribute called wisdom.

Finally, he realizes that law’s role is to serve the purposes of man, and not the other way around. That is to say, law is not an end in itself but an instrument designed to bring about justly the realization of human dignity in a commonwealth of mutual deference.”