Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice Dipak Misra yesterday asked law students to engage in the practice of "Cause Lawyering" and develop the idea of serviceability to the law by taking up 'pro bono' cases at a low income to protect human rights. Cause lawyering is described as a practice of "lawyering for the good" or using law to empower members of the weaker layers of society. Justice Misra was delivering the first Madhusudan Das Memorial Lecture at his alma mater at the Madhusudan Law College here on the topic Role of Lawyers in the Dispensation of Justice Delivery System.

The function was attended among others by Chief Justice of Orissa High Court Justice K S Jhaveri. Speaking on the personal capabilities of a lawyer, Justice Misra said it is wrong to assume that lawyers practice only to earn money. Rather, the lawyers as a class are supposed to do service to society like that of the judiciary as an institution and protect human values, he said.