President's Message
| Publication year | 2010 |
| Pages | 06 |
SPECIAL GUEST AUTHOR-JACK FOCHT
It's Hard to be Nasty to a Friend
By Special Guest Author Jack Focht, Foulston Siefkin LLP, Wichita, KBA President 1989, jfocht@foulston.com
Shortly after receiving my 50-year certificate at this year's annual meeting, President Glenn Braun called and asked me to write a message on what I had learned in 50 years of practice. Since one thing I've never learned was how to say no, I accepted.
As I ruminated over the last 50 years, I concluded that the one constant I could rely on was change. I recalled the advent of the IBM Selectric typewriter with the carbon ribbon that began the change heading toward the word processor years later. I had fond memories of the first copier that made it possible to do away with carbon copies. Many of us still remember the secretary who could make 10 carbon copies of a document - often typed without a mistake. We often still include a "cc recipient" on our letters. The technological advances in just 50 years make my head spin. A lawyer went from dictating to a secretary to dictating into a machine or keyboarding for himself. "Himself" is used because the makeup of the practicing Bar 50 years ago was almost exclusively men.
Not only has technology changed, but the law evolved rapidly as well. During my brief time as a lawyer, the civil, criminal, corporation, probate, and business codes all changed. My top paper in Bills and Notes at Washburn became worthless when the Uniform Commercial Code was established. While I used to go to the law library to look up law, I now turn to my computer and use Lexis or Westlaw (or sometimes a willing associate) to find answers.
But of even greater significance to me as a former president of both the Wichita (WBA) and Kansas (KBA) bar associations is the change in relationships. When I returned to my hometown of Wichita in 1960 to practice law, there were 391 members of the WBA and 1,900 members of the KBA. We were a small group and we got to know each other. Before I could become a member of the WBA, I had to report to former Justice Hugo T. Wedell for a lecture on what was expected of a Wichita lawyer. I clearly remember him telling me, "Your word is your bond; we don't have to write letters of confirmation,"etc. I was impressed and tried to follow that all my professional life. Most all the lawyers I met and knew during my early practice...
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