“The first thing we do,” said Dick the Butcher in Shakespeare’s “Henry VI,” “let’s kill all the lawyers.”
This line, while often misquoted today in an effort to mock lawyers, is in fact high praise for what a lawyer’s true role in society is, and must continue to be. The original meaning of this quote was that lawyers needed to be eliminated, according to this sinister character, because during Shakespeare’s time, lawyers were the protectors of the truth. Only by their removal could this character, and his villainous companion, accomplish the evil schemes which they were concocting during this scene. This illustrates the very important role that lawyers played in society during Shakespearean time. Lawyers were essential to society as they acted as the ultimate guardians standing in the way of tyrannical regimes by promoting the independent thinking which forms the foundation of our basic liberties.
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