Success Story: Lloenflys
Lloenflys’ rise to the office of attorney general was fueled by their passion for law
Written by Klatonia
"[Conflict and confusion don’t] happen a lot. And that's a good thing. We should be glad about that." - Attorney General Lloenflys
If you think about Europeia’s judicial system and its key players, there is a good chance Lloenflys will quickly come to mind. Who is this mainstay legal bee? Where does their passion lay?
A Star is Born
Lloenflys joined Europeia in December of 2018. They ran for Senate in the January 2019 Senate election and narrowly lost, only to run in the following by-election and being elected by a convincing margin. This meteoric rise to the region’s legislature was but the first of seven terms as a law-maker - seven terms spanning a little under two years. Their peers recognised Lloenflys’ acumen by electing them to the Speakership on more than one occasion. As a Senator, Lloenflys quickly figured out where their interests lay: "I don't particularly enjoy drafting legislation, I much prefer editing legislation. But I really liked the camaraderie of being on a Senate, [...] there's just something about being in a group environment that I enjoy a great deal. Thinking about problems confronting the region, ways to address it, legislation that's coming forward, all of that appeals to me."
Always quick to recognise a rising star when they saw one, Europeians elected Lloenflys as their First Minister in May 2019. Their one term in that position only served to strenghten Lloenflys' interest in legal matters and their conviction that much can be accomplished in that regards.
A Passion for the Law
Lloenflys’ passion was and remains law: "I like to look at laws and how they interact with politics." Ignited by their stints in the Senate, their interest in legal matters led Lloenflys to sit on the High Court of Europeia. For Lloenflys, law is a puzzle in which he revels, akin to "somebody who likes engineering looks at little pieces and cogs and wheels and things and figures out how to reassemble those into a new thing. That's what a lawyer does, when looking at a set of laws or a constitutional provision [...], you're just taking apart these pieces and seeing how they fit together and figuring out how everything works. It's the puzzle aspect of the law that I think is most fun."
It is therefore no surprise that Lloenflys found the role of attorney general (AG) to fit them like a glove. The position allows them to use their analytic skills in service to the executive in general, and the president in particular. At first, however, it was not obvious to them that they had the right preparation for the job, as they had not previously served in the Ministry of Justice: "it was actually intimidating for me because I didn't know how legislative assessments were done in the region." After much catching up, Lloenflys was confident they could mobilise their interests and skills to make sure they serve and advise the president well.
As attorney general, Lloenflys’ responsibility is to advise the president and the Cabinet. This advice is invaluable. "You know, whether they're proposing legislation or whether they want to take some action or whatever, if they want to know what the consequences are. That's the type of stuff I like, I like analyzing the most."
As AG, they are also a key councillor when ambiguity comes up - which luckily does not happen too often, in their eyes. "The attorney general specifically is going to be most needed in situations where you have really confusing conflict showing up and advice needs to be given and taken. This doesn't happen a lot. And that's a good thing. We should be glad about that. But we have situations in the past where maybe you'll have a law that is interpreted by the Senate one way, by the executive in another way."
In all cases, Lloenflys much prefers advice and counsel to prosecution. The attorney general has the power to prosecute citizens suspected of breaking the law. AG Lloenflys, in their analysis of questionable behaviours, tends to first ask whether or not the person has "done something for nefarious purposes." Unless every interpretation of the events point at the person being dishonest, Lloenflys favours giving the suspect the benefit of the doubt and will engage in "a conversation and allow [the person] to back out gracefully, and fix the problem."
A Path for Others
Looking back, Lloenflys sees the various opportunities for service as a great way to prepare the progression of one’s career in Europeia. Whether it’s serving as a clerk in the Ministry of Justice or as an elected senator, service is a way to get noticed and develop your own skills. If someone is willing to put effort into learning, "you can actually gain a lot from service on the Senate, and you can learn a lot, you can get some ideas of how laws tend to be put together."
What about those interested in entering the legal profession in Europeia? Let’s say… becoming attorney general? Lloenflys has sound advice for them. "The way forward if you're interested in becoming the attorney general would be to come up through the Ministry of Justice. Come to understand how legislative assessments work, demonstrate that you can author a few."
The path to joining the Ministry of Justice is somewhat unique in the region. Contrarily to radio or culture, for example, "[t]he Ministry of Justice is in a weird position, because it really depends on people to be interested in the subject matter for it to be able to do much. [...] You're first going to have people largely self selecting into joining the Ministry of Justice."
Thus, skills development is a key component of working daily with the law. One of them is formal writing: "I think even just drafting a legislative assessment, even with a simple basic law can help you put something together that you're writing in a more formal style. A lot of people don't have to practice writing formally, like you do with a legislative assessment."
Reading legislation daily also allows upcoming legal bees to develop robust legal reasoning as well. "It gives you a chance to read legislation and really think about it and say, 'What is this intending to accomplish? And does it do what it's trying to do?' I think the skills of learning how to understand what laws say, and how they say them, and demystifying the law a little bit [are very important]. You can understand what goes into interpretation."
Statesperson, lawmaker, magistrate, legal scholar and mentor: Lloenflys’ success story is one that inspires all of Europeia.
