June 2002. Gibson No Title.

Vermont Bar Journal

2002.

June 2002.

Gibson No Title

PERSONAL FAITH AND THE PRACTICE OF LAW

A talk given at Vermont Law School, March 14, 2002

Hon. Ernest W. Gibson, III, Associate Justice (Ret.)

When invited to speak to you today, I did not exactly jump at the opportunity. For one thing, the topic suggested - Faith and the Public Discourse - is both broad and daunting. Also, I could not help wondering if many students would really be interested in hearing someone talk about religion, because that is what faith is all about religion in one form or another. Then I thought that a large part of my life has been devoted to following my faith, so maybe I owe it to people to tell my story. And I remembered that I had had an abiding interest in matters of faith as far back as college and law school. So, after thinking about it for a couple of weeks, I wrote to say I would undertake the challenge.

I must say I was given some pause when a longtime friend and retired lawyer wrote to commend me for my willingness to talk about religion and practicing law, "especially to an audience of presumably skeptical law students." This caveat was underscored when I read later about a 1993 study reporting that among the baby-boom generation - your parents' generation - 50% of high school graduates and 65% of those with post-graduate education sometimes doubt the existence of God. For many, it appears that God plays no major role in their lives, and has become largely irrelevant.

So, it is with some trepidation that I venture into this discourse.

Problems Confronting the Legal Profession

Although the subject I address today focuses on the legal profession, the problems I see facing today's lawyers are similar to those confronting American society as a whole. Former Chief Justice Warren Burger, speaking at Fordham Law School a few years ago, deplored the decline in professionalism he had witnessed over the prior twenty to twenty-five years, not only in the legal profession, but also in many other important areas. With respect to the law, he noted that "the standing of the legal profession is perhaps at its lowest ebb in this century - and perhaps at its lowest in history."(Fn1)He particularly deplored three things that he believed contributed to the low public esteem: (1) the habit of lawyers - particularly prosecutors - of "trying their cases" on the courthouse steps to newspaper and television reporters; (2) the incivility of lawyers in the courtroom; and (3) what he termed "the outrageous breach of professional conduct . . . in the huckster advertising of some attorneys."(Fn2)

While Chief Justice Burger was particularly disturbed about lawyer advertising, what bothers me the most is the growing incivility that is infiltrating the legal profession. I realize that this problem extends beyond the legal profession (witness road rage, air passenger rage, etc.). In my mind, however, there is no place for this kind of behavior in the legal profession. I understand that there may be occasional lapses - no one is perfect - but as a pattern of behavior, incivility or rudeness is just not acceptable, particularly when exhibited by one who holds himself/herself out as a professional.

It is nothing new, of course, for the public to have a low opinion of lawyers. This seems to be a curse the profession has borne for centuries. It is understandable. Lawyers are called upon to advocate or defend all points of view, and both sides of many issues, popular and unpopular. Criticism is inevitable. Lawyers must expect it from time to time and learn to live with it, without letting its specter deter them from their duties. I believe most lawyers understand this.

But today we have a new phenomenon. Many lawyers themselves are unhappy with the profession. Not only are they unhappy with the way law is being practiced these days, they are unhappy with their choice of law as a profession in the first place. This is not true of all lawyers, of course, but recent studies indicate that it seems to...

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