How nice guys finish first.

• Author: Keenan, Matthew D.

This article originally appeared in the June 2009 Trial Techniques and Tactics Committee Newsletter.

Any attorney older than 50 grew up in the era when the Hollywood role model for attorneys was Perry Mason, the longest running lawyer show in TV history. A defense lawyer who took cases against long odds, Mason always found a way to exonerate the innocent defendant. Assisted ably by Paul Drake and Della Street, their approach to preparing and defending a case was old school. And along the way, there was always the utmost civility and professionalism between Mason and the prosecutor, Hamilton Burger, even though Burger's track record was akin to the Harlem Globetrotters' opponent, the Washington Generals.

Following Mason was Matlock, which ran from 1986-1992. Starring Andy Griffith, Matlock was a southern gentleman sporting seersucker suits and bright ties, his folksy manner won viewers and juries over. And then along came L.A. Law, and the public's image of the legal profession, and lawyers, was never again the same. The show changed many things, but one unquestionably was to take our noble profession and present it as a business, with interpersonal conflicts serving as the centerpiece of virtually every plot. And droves of students wanted to be the next Arnie Becker, a divorce lawyer who craved driving Bentleys and extracting revenge from is rivals. Personal destruction was sport. It was more soap opera than anything else. And it created a culture that transformed, and some would say, disfigured, our profession.

Today the evidence is pretty clear that our profession is suffering from a spate of bad behavior. Almost 70% of lawyers surveyed for "The Pulse of the Legal Profession," a comprehensive 2006 ABA study surveying the opinions of 800 lawyers, believe that "lawyers have become less civil to each other over time." Anecdotal evidence reinforces this conclusion as well. It's no surprise that happiness in the profession is sliding as well. The New York Times reported in January 2008 that lawyers, as well as doctors, find less satisfaction in their work, and quoting an ABA Survey, stated "Forty-four percent of lawyers recently surveyed by the ABA said they would not recommend the profession to a young person." (43)

You can look for other evidence of a decline of civility. In 2005, before a high school civics class, Senate President Harry Reid called President Bush a "loser" and no one flinched. The next year, Venezuela President Hugo Chavez...