My Look From the Inside Out

I have had the unique opportunity for nearly 25 years to look at the legal profession and the practice of law from my chair, first, as a Chief Disciplinary Counsel for the Utah State Bar and, then, for the past 20 years as Executive Director & General Counsel for the Santa Clara County Bar Association, San Jose, California. The view has been sometimes gratifying, sometimes frustrating and at times completely mystifying.

Gratifying: Attorneys are some of the best people I know. Most work harder than is often imaginable. I mean, really, 2300 billable hours a year is amazing. Beyond the regular hours and hours of work and devotion that attorneys give their clients, attorneys are some of the most generous professionals among professionals. I have witnessed, again and again, attorneys adding to their already full caseloads pro bono hours to represent a death row inmate in Alabama when the pro bono attorneys reside in California; to assist a homeless individual appeal a denial of benefits for food stamps because the person did not have a home address; to help a federal court set up and administer a pro bono program to represent pro se litigants in employment discrimination cases and social security disability appeals; and to draft amicus briefs to advance civil rights for women, gays, lesbians, transgender and bisexual people. Attorneys give their time every day to every kind of legal need that exists among those who need to access the legal system but cannot afford an attorney. While unrepresented legal needs of the poor remains far from being met, many attorneys do more than their fair share. Those who do not should take a lesson learned from where I see the profession. Join your colleagues in providing at least 60 pro bono hours a year. If you do not know where to volunteer your time, go to Probonomatch.org and you will find pro bono opportunities beyond your wildest dreams!

Frustrating: At times, attorneys can be their own worst public relations enemies. When attorneys abandon civility and professionalism in dealing with clients, opposing counsel, witnesses, the court, court staff and even their own staff, the entire profession suffers from the telling and retelling of those bad attorney behavior tales. We often justify conduct that is less than civil or professional by claiming that it is in the zealous advocacy of the client. That sentiment assumes that civility and professionalism are not compatible with the ethical and civil advocacy for the client. However, that is a myth. Incivility creates a reputation for the attorney that reduces the attorney's credibility with opposing counsel, opposing parties, the court, and juries. Impaired credibility creates barriers to effectively advocating for the client. And, attorneys too often bring their tough advocacy skills into settings that do not require or call for that approach. It happens in volunteer settings with bar associations, with non-profit boards of directors where attorneys may be board members and sometimes in social settings. As attorneys, we can all enhance the profession's image by remembering that civility, professionalism and appropriate conduct suited to the setting is the tradition and hallmark of our profession. If you want to know what constitutes civil, professional conduct, read through the Santa Clara County Bar Association Code of Professionalism , adopted in 1992. It's worth the time.

Mystifying: The judge I clerked for my first year out of law school pointed out to me a common, mystifying habit of attorneys that I have confirmed for myself over the years: Attorneys Do Not Read. Truly, it's not that we can't read. We had to read literally tons of material just to get through law school. And, by all accounts, we still have to read that much in practice: there are still cases, pleadings, briefs, letters, depositions and more depositions, and court orders, just to mention a few. But, what attorneys do not read are instructions, beginnings and endings of letters, emails that do not directly pertain to a client's case but do involve some important activities they might be involved with, brief notices the contents of which they think they already know, and any other kind of document that they can ask someone else about (e.g., court clerk, secretary, paralegal, bar staff, junior associates). Ask any of those folks and they will confirm it for you. Many attorneys are not even aware that they are do not read. But, it's true and it's mystifying.

All in all, I would not trade my view of the legal profession and attorneys for any other view. I have enormous respect for the role of the legal profession in our democracy and great admiration for the attorneys who go beyond their day-to-day personal interest of making money in using their skills to better society and the administration of justice.