Inaugurating the 125th-year celebrations of the Belgaum Bar Association here on Saturday, he said lawyers should respond sympathetically to their clients' problems. Lawyers should treat their clients with a lot of compassion, just as Lord Buddha did an injured bird in the famed story, he said.

The Minister said there was a time when the profession was held in high respect by society, and lawyers were not as interested in making money as in helping the common man: they never bargained for fees with their clients. Union Minister for Law, Justice and Company Affairs Thambi Durai, who released a souvenir, said courts should respect the language of the people and use local languages in their day-to-day functioning.

This would help the common man followproceedings, he said.. His Ministry has decided to publish law books in all the Indian languages so that people can easily understand the country's laws.

He said his Ministry was also launching a Legal Aid Forum to help financially weak litigants, and suggested young advocates serve society through such fora.