If you haven’t heard, today is Love a Lawyer Day. Oh, it’s not a federal holiday — it’s a day chosen by the ABA’s Law Practice Counsel to celebrate attorneys on the first Friday of November every year.

Here’s the ABA resolution on the special day:

WHEREAS, Lawyers have consistently been the target of verbal bashing, derogatory portrayals and literature is rife with lawyer bashing dated back hundreds of years; and

WHEREAS, A 2013 Pew Research Center survey found lawyers last among ten professional categories for “contributions to society”;

WHEREAS, According to a 2014 Gallup survey, the public perception of lawyers on honesty and ethics is an unsatisfactory 21%; and…

WHEREAS, The portrayal of lawyers in American popular culture, including on television and cinema, is largely negative, which promotes a negative stereotype of lawyers in society…

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ENACTED by the American Bar Association Law Practice Division Council:

SECTION 1. The first Friday of November be recognized and celebrated as “Love Your Lawyer Day”, a day for the public to celebrate lawyers and express their gratitude to them for their affirmative contributions to the public good and the administration of justice.

SECTION 2. Lawyers throughout the nation are urged to celebrate “Love Your Lawyer Day” to help promote a positive and more respected image of lawyers and their contributions to society and that they do so by providing pro bono legal services to their communities and supporting charitable causes that promote the administration of justice.

Those of us who grew up watching Perry Mason had a positive image of lawyers, the defenders of evil and wrongdoing. Unfortunately, more recent TV fare has been more biased toward painting lawyers as opportunistic headline and money grabbers. I’ve met a few of those in my time, but I’ve met far more of that type in C-suites than law offices!

Lawyers are our clients, so we feel qualified to bear witness that a vast majority of them are good people doing good things for others. And I’m not just talking about pro bono work. I am talking about the lawyers who do their best every day to represent their clients fairly to right a wrong or defend their rights.

I am talking about the lawyers who protect women and children by getting them away from their abusers.

I am talking about lawyers who stand between a wrongly accused person and the might of the government.

I am talking about lawyers who protect the hard-earned assets of others from bad actors in the debt consolidation industry.

I am talking about lawyers who help injured parties get a fair shake from insurance companies.

The lawyers I know are not practicing because they want to make a lot of money. They are doing it to help people. They want to make a difference in the world and to be of service.   That is why, to me, the law is still a noble profession, even without Perry Mason.

So to all you lawyers out there, Happy Love a Lawyer Day!