The lawyer as a facilitator.

• Author: Hunter, Robert D.
• Position: President's page

I have been referred to, by some. as tile first in-house counsel to serve as President of the IADC. That is not true.

The first meeting of the group today known as the International Association of Defense Counsel was held in September 1920, at the invitation of John A. Millener, General Counsel for the Order of United Commercial Travelers of America. Eleven General Counsel attended the meeting and, not surprisingly, one of their number, M. W. Van Auken, General Counsel for Commercial Travelers Mutual Accident Association of America, was elected as our first President. For the first seven years, membership in the organization was limited to in-house counsel, and the others who served as Presidents (Martin P. Cornelius and Edwin A. Jones) were in-house counsel.

But in 1927 it was decided that outside counsel should be allowed to join. They quickly took over! Within one year the membership ballooned from 45 to 207. Mr. Jones, our longest tenured President, was able to hold on to the Presidency for a total of 6 years, but in 1932 was overwhelmed by the outsiders and replaced by a private practitioner. Seventy-six years later, the IADC has decided to give another in-house counsel the reins.

I was in private practice for over twenty years before I moved in-house. Once in-house, I learned many things I wish I had known while practicing on the outside. I certainly would have been a better lawyer, and a better resource for my clients, had I known then some of the things 1 know now. And my lessons are only beginning.

Some of the lessons learned in-house relate to the role of a lawyer. The Preamble to the Alabama Rules of Professional Conduct includes the following:

As a representative of clients, a lawyer performs various functions. As advisor, a lawyer provides a client with an informed understanding of the client's legal rights and obligations and explains their practical implications. As advocate, a lawyer zealously asserts the client's position under the rules of the adversary system. As negotiator, a lawyer seeks a result advantageous to the client but consistent with the requirements of honest dealing with others. As intermediary between clients, a lawyer seeks to reconcile their divergent interests as an advisor 1o and, to a limited extent, as a spokesperson for each client. A lawyer acts as evaluator by examining a client's legal affairs and reporting...