D&D Alignment

Since this blog is about both sci fi/fantasy and the law, I wanted to take a moment to talk about a common example (at least among nerds) where these two issues overlap – the Dungeons & Dragons alignment chart!

For those of you who don’t know, D&D has an alignment system, using two different scales: 1) Good versus Evil, and 2) Lawful versus Chaotic. Both of these scales also have a middle ground, called “neutral.” Where you (or more accurately, your character) falls on these two scales says something about who they are and what actions they are likely to take. For example, Superman is generally seen as a Lawful Good character. He fights for truth and justice, saving the innocent, and defeating evil. On the opposite end, The Joker is Chaotic Evil – one who seeks to destroy and cause havoc just because he enjoys it.

So here’s the question – where do lawyers fall on the D&D alignment chart? Of course there’s no end to the potential jokes about it. Some say lawyers are lawful evil – using the law and their knowledge of it to maintain power and control. Others say lawyers are lawful neutral – the ultimate “rules lawyer,” not caring whether the law is right, only pushing it because it exists.

Far be it from me to kill a good joke – actually, those who know me would say I do that all the time! But speaking only for myself and my area of the law (personal injury), I’d like to take a moment and make a case for lawyers as lawful good.

That is not to say “lawful” as in “always follows the law.” I prefer to think of “lawful” as “believes in order.” Sometimes that means holding others accountable for failing to follow the law  – like drivers who don’t obey the rules of the road, or companies that manufacture defective products. But what happens when the law isn’t just – like Washington’s old wrongful death law, which prevented some classes of people (most notably non-residents of the United States) from seeking pre-death pain and suffering, or lost love, care, and affection, when an adult child died because of the wrongful conduct of another? The answer is to fight that law as best you can – appeal it, strike it down, replace it with a better law, as Washington just with its wrongful death law earlier this year.

And while you may find it self-serving (certainly I’m a bit biased), I believe that our kind of lawyering is a search for good. Not only an individual good, by obtaining a just verdict or settlement for our clients, but also a societal good, by holding people and companies accountable for their conduct, and encouraging them to act safely.