The law gains meaning when I understand the people to whom it is applied. This is doable, I know, but how?
To make the law truly meaningful, we must first recognize that a legal case is not merely a formula of “Facts + Law + Argument”. Instead, it is the combination of a “Person + Lived Experience + Circumstances + Law” that creates a complete legal problem. The “how” of understanding the people we serve lies in deeply engaging with the first element of the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm: Context.
In my experience managing product initiatives and engineering workflows, a system or solution is only successful if it is deeply rooted in a thorough understanding of the end-user’s actual pain points and daily realities. The practice of law demands that exact same intentionality. Understanding the people to whom the law is applied requires a deliberate, step-by-step approach: we must Listen, Understand, Analyze, and only then, Advise. It means stepping into the client’s world to grasp their prior knowledge, emotional state, and personal circumstances before deciding on a legal strategy.
Practically, this is achieved by practicing cura personalis—looking beyond the strict legal issue to consider the client’s family background, practical objectives, and inherent dignity. Without this contextual empathy, a lawyer risks giving advice that is technically correct but entirely impractical for the client’s lived reality. By intentionally seeking out the human story and the context behind the facts, I can identify the real legal issue, choose the most appropriate remedies, and provide counsel that is legally sound and genuinely responsive to the person I am serving.