User blog:Arathorstories/Cab Rank Rule?

With legal RP still nascent outside of a few niche circles - and credit to them where it's due, including to Blood of Lordaeron's handful of trials (not having witnessed one personally, I can only go off what friends tell me but they're apparently quite good except when Manstein is arguing) - there are a lot of areas of principle that have yet to be developed, either due to a lack of exposure or a lack of informed figures available when the issues are floated. One of them that's been bothering me of late has been the use of the term 'barrister' with the Stormwind courts as referring to any and all lawyers, and the attendant lack of appropriate responsibilities and distinctions that make a barrister what he is.

One of these distinctions in real life is the so-called 'cab rank rule' (named for the old informal rules governing hansom cab pickups in London), which is basically the idea that a barrister should take any client who can pay, so long as he has the time and the competency to do the work. It's a bit of a controversial rule IRL these days since there are a great many more barristers than at the time it was first set down, but there remain some very compelling arguments for it. At its core, it ensures that everyone - no matter how wretched, vile, or unpopular - gets a legal defence (...so long as they can pay for it...) and barristers don't pick and choose based solely on personal interest.

We do not have a cab rank rule in the House of Magistrates. I think we may want to implement one, with a proviso that if there is a serious OOC disagreement or dislike between the barrister's player and the employer's player, the principle does not apply. As it stands, barristers are few and far between on Moon Guard, and they pick freely from cases. If this choosing is OOC, that's one thing and the rule wouldn't infringe on it - it would infringe only on IC discretion, and only for matters relating to the House of Magistrates.

This won't happen any time soon, but I thought I'd float the idea and see if anyone had questions, comments, or concerns. A goal with the House of Magistrates is OOC transparancy and communication, and as such, big proposed changes like this will be publicly aired.