By:  LINDSEY O’NEILL, ESQ. 

Sometimes doesn’t it seem like all you hear is bad news? Especially when it comes to law.  Politicians going down for breaking the law, people getting defrauded, unsafe toys being manufactured… bad, bad, and more bad.  How about some good news about law?   What are the good laws?   What legal principles do we appreciate the most?  Here are a few favorites that come to my mind, in no special order.

Bill of Rights.  Equal Protection of the Law.  Innocent Until Proven Guilty.  All very GOOD laws.  The law protects our freedom, gives us the opportunity to defend ourselves when accused of wrongdoing, and supports the principle of treating people fairly. 

Accountability.  Law allows us to hold each other accountable for the promises we make to one another.  We make agreements about everything.  Law makes those agreements enforceable.  Whether it’s a contract for the sale of goods, an agreement to share profits, or the terms under which we provide services….. the law gives us the ability to hold someone to their word. 

Good Samaritan Laws.  These are laws that protect us for doing the right thing.  Good Samaritan laws were enacted to protect regular people from liability when they jump in to aid others who may be in danger.  Without good Samaritan laws, people may hesitate to assist others out of fear that they could be sued or prosecuted for unintentional injury or wrongful death.

Common law or case law.  This is law created not by the legislature, but over time by judges deciding how disputes should be resolved.  Judges interpret laws and apply the law to a particular situation.  In doing so, a precedent is set for how similar disputes should be handled in the future.  Thus, a sort of situational law is created simply out of what the right outcome should be.  (Hopefully it is the right outcome.) 

Judicial activism.  Judges find new ways of interpreting the law – new perspectives on what our laws really mean.   Many good things in our society are the result of judges taking a stand on what our laws should mean.  One famous example is the landmark civil rights case of Brown v. Board of Education.  With that case, Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren interpreted the constitution in a new way and ruled that ”separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”  

The concept of “good faith” in law.  While the definition of “good faith” can certainly be debated in a particular situation, it basically means acting honestly, reasonably and fairly. 

Order and organization.  The law is a system of rules that provide order and organization to society.  With law we have a mechanism for defining standards of conduct and a forum for resolving our disputes. 

Those are some of my thoughts on what is good about law.  They are some of the reasons I became a lawyer.  What things do you appreciate about law?