Thanks for Letting Me Hang at Your Bar—what You Taught Me
| Publication year | 2013 |
| Pages | 5 |
| Citation | Vol. 42 No. 3 Pg. 5 |
By Mark A. Fogg
In and Around the Bar CBA President's Message to Members
About eight of us gathered around the table at Wallbanger’s restaurant on Highway 50 in Salida. It was September 6, and I was making my local bar association visit to the Heart of the Rockies Bar Association with CBA Deputy Executive Director Greg Martin. We had a table tucked off to the side and, by a split vote (kidding), we turned off the big screen TV hockey game because we thought the body slams may be inconsistent with my CLE talk, which included the topic of professionalism. Of course, the practice sometimes feels like body slams are legal.
All of my visits to the local bar associations were great. I have now visited twenty-five of the twenty-seven local bars, with Denver and Larimer left to go. I have a special memory of my visit to Salida. The newest lawyer in town was there. So was the local bar president, Pete Cordova. When our discussion got around to professionalism and mentoring, the new lawyer listed all the things that Pete did to make her feel welcome in the legal community and to support her, including introducing her to local lawyers and judges and helping her with practice start-up — issues. The admiration for Pete was apparent in her eyes. It confirmed my long-held belief that when we leave this legal practice one way or another, close colleagues and clients will tell stories about the type of person and lawyer we were, but those we mentor—those on whom we impress the true honor of being a lawyer—will be the ones to best tell stories of the richness of our professional lives.
m this article, I want to give you my perspective on the discussions I've had with more than a thousand lawyers around the state about the status of our profession. I was told many times that the issues that confront Denver lawyers are markedly different from what Western Slope lawyers, for example, have to contend with. There is some truth to this, but there is no question in my mind that the values that bind us overwhelmingly outweigh any small differences. These are the main things I learned from you.
Honor and Trust—The Ties That Bind Us
The economy has hit many lawyers hard, and trying to make a living is a front and center issue for many of us. However, if I were to articulate an almost universal need of lawyers from my discussions, it is the hunger for honor as reflected by trust. All individuals desire it in some form or another, but it is especially important to professionals. Trust is the bedrock of all professional relationships. I would suggest that trust, with all that it entails, is our greatest dignity.
The science and mechanical professions require trust unique to their specialties. In law, we use vague concepts such as "justice" and the "Rule of Law." Clients have to trust that we know how to obtain justice. The public has to trust that our legal system will fairly, without prejudice, administer justice. Lawyers have a keen sense that, unlike other professions, the degree of erosion of the public trust in the legal profession is substantial.
During my local bar association visits, many of my talks and subsequent interactive discussions were on the great honor it is to be an attorney in what I believe is the best legal system the...
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