President's Message

• Publication year: 1997
• Pages: 5
• Citation: Vol. 10 No. 9 Pg. 5

President's Message Vol. 10 No. 9 Pg. 5 Utah Bar Journal November, 1997

Will the Real Lawyer Please Stand Up

Charlotte L. Miller, J.

Litigator, tax lawyer, personal injury lawyer, criminal defense lawyer, merger and acquisition lawyer, divorce lawyer, insurance defense lawyer, environmental lawyer. As you read each of these lawyer types, certain images, preconceived ideas, and generalizations come to mind. Think about government lawyer, big firm lawyer, solo practitioner, in-house lawyer. Which of these are "real" lawyers? Public defense lawyers can tell you about their clients who wished they had a "real" lawyer from a big law firm. (Ironically, these clients do not realize the outstanding representation they receive from the Salt Lake Legal Defender's Office). And, I've heard associates in big law firms who don't feel they are getting enough litigation experience refer longingly to a prosecutor who goes to court everyday as a "real" lawyer. Since I work in corporation, I'm not even close to being a "real" lawyer.

Some of us lawyers are concerned about the public image of lawyers, lawyer bashing and lawyer jokes. However, we may spend as much time bashing one another as any member of the public who is not a lawyer. I have heard solo practitioners complain how much easier big firm lawyers have it than solo practitioners, or business lawyers complain that litigators have no business or management acumen, or ability to negotiate. Or, I hear how business lawyers have no personality, or criminal defense lawyers have no morals, or collections lawyers are greedy. I don't usually have to go outside of talking to members of the Bar to hear these comments.

Sometimes these over-generalization are meant as humor (and I'm not opposed to fun) but occasionally we should consider what drives us to be so critical of those in our own profession. Next time you or some lawyer with you starts down the path of criticism, remember that big firm lawyers have to pay for their copy machines the same way as solo practitioners (and I've been in more than one meeting where the answer to raising money was "ask the big law firms"), that government lawyers have the stress of a demanding client the same as divorce...