Opening Statement. Respect

• Author: James A. Reeder Jr.
• Pages: 4-4

Opening Statement

Published in Litigation, Volume 47, Number 2, Winter 2021. © 2021 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be

copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association. 4

JAMES A. REEDER JR.

The author is chair of the Section of Litigation and a partner with Jones Day, Houston.

Two years ago, when I first realized that I

would be chairing the Section of Litigation

in the 2020–2021 bar year, one of the first

things I did was to start thinking about

what I wanted to accomplish. Over the 20

years that I have been in the leadership of

the Section, I have witnessed many impact-

ful and inspiring initiatives and programs

from prior chairs. For several months, I

was consumed with trying to identify an

initiative that the Section could sponsor

that would serve as the hallmark for my

year and would be equally impressive.

At some point in the process, however, it

dawned on me that I was trying too hard;

whatever shape the year was going to take

would have to be more of a reflection of

me and less an effort to replicate what

others before me had done. In 2001, when

Scott Atlas tapped me to cochair the 2003

Section Annual Conference in Houston, he

was explicit that one of the reasons was

because he thought I was funny. I told my

cochairs, Nancy Degan and Teddy Adams,

to leave the money-raising and people parts

of the conference to me, and I would leave

the heavy content part to them. My dad had

always emphasized to me that the legal

profession is a people business. His friend

and law partner Tommy Boggs used to say

that the primary currency in Washington,

D.C., was BS, and that in D.C., my dad was

a billionaire. Thus, like my dad, I am natu-

rally a people person.

And so, as I reflected on my own char-

acter and strengths, a theme for the year

began to take shape. It would be about

people. And relationships. And human

frailty. And the qualities I learned as a

Boy Scout: honesty, kindness, and courage,

among others. Moreover, it would reflect

all that I had experienced and observed

and learned about people and relation-

ships and viewpoints and emotions as a

gay man. It would be about respect.

At first, I thought a theme of respect

might be too soft, too squishy. But the

more I thought about it, the more it made

sense. At various times over my career, I

have been more or less concerned about

the nature of discourse between litiga-

tors. I started practicing during the ad-

vent of aggressive lawyering tactics. To

some lawyers, litigation meant unrelent-

ing, no-holds-barred combat in which any

accommodation was seen as weakness.

Although it seems that the aggressive-

ness of some lawyers in prosecuting their

case has diminished somewhat, as trial

lawyers, we should never lose sight of the

fundamental importance of the manner in

which we relate to one another. That was

from where the theme of respect for one

another emanated. And as will be further

developed in my next chair’s column, that

theme quickly expanded to include the

manner in which we relate to one another

outside of litigation as well. Who would

have ever thought that there would be so

much to do there!

The other subthemes evolved from

the first. Perhaps because I am known as

someone who has a joke for every occa-

sion or circumstance, I was late to recog-

nize but am increasingly sensitive to the

human and emotional impact of some

jokes; and that includes jokes about law-

yers. If we don’t demonstrate respect for

our profession, who will? Respect for the

judiciary has been high on my list ever

since I first heard the inexplicable term

“activist judge.” I have been speaking on

our ethical obligations to defend an in-

dependent judiciary for 20 years. Finally,

for the last few years, there has been a re-

newed focus on the toll our careers take

on our lives and our relationships. Respect

for ourselves is just a new articulation of

successful initiatives started by my prede-

cessors. Each of these themes will be ex-

plored in greater detail in a future column.

Unlike an initiative or project that

might only tangentially touch you or

your practice, this theme is at the core of

who you are and what you do every day.

So your objective is easy: Take this mo-

ment to show some respect (don’t keep

it to yourself )—for the judiciary, for our

profession, for one another, and for your-

self. Now that’s impact! q

RESPECT