Learning Professionalism and Civility - Thoughts for New Members of the Bar

• Publication year: 2009
• Pages: 13
• Citation: Vol. 18 No. 4 Pg. 13

Utah Bar Journal Volume 18.

Vol. 18, No. 4 - 13. Learning Professionalism and Civility - Thoughts for New Members of the Bar

Learning Professionalism and Civility - Thoughts for New Members of the Bar

by Judge Derek P. Pullan

Every day, I am grateful for attorneys who have a clear view of the law, and are willing to impart that knowledge to me. In the legal profession, seeing things clearly does not come without sacrifice. I am regularly the beneficiary of your long hours of research, reading, and disciplined thought. Those who venture into the vast legal landscape know that the demands of the journey are real. Thank you for your conscientious work on behalf of your clients and the courts.

FIND OR BE A MENTOR

My first suggestion to new members of the bar is to seek out a mentor. Find an experienced attorney in your firm or elsewhere who is willing to guide you in the early stages of your career. A mentor can help you to avoid common pitfalls and can impart wisdom and experience acquired over decades. To seasoned practitioners - when you see a new member of the bar struggling unnecessarily in the practice - please take time to meet with him or her. Give counsel and direction. The long-term returns on this investment are too great to be measured.

As a new lawyer, I had the opportunity to serve as a law clerk for former Chief Justice Richard C. Howe. During that year, I became the beneficiary of Justice Howe's long experience as an attorney, legislator, and judge. His influence shaped both my analytical skills and my character. He taught me the fundamental importance of correct facts. On his wall hung a small sign that read: "Every man has the right to his own opinion, but no man has the right to be wrong in the facts." He taught me to have respect for the hard-fought compromises that are hammered out in the legislature. Most importantly, he taught me the importance of kindness, patience, and humility. Each new member of the Bar should be the beneficiary of such a mentor.

THE STANDARDS OF PROFESSIONALISM AND CIVILITY SHOULD GUIDE YOUR PRACTICE OF THE LAW

In recent years, we have seen a general decline in the civility of public discourse. In the past, the resort to rancorous speech and demeaning personal attacks evidenced a weakness in the merits of one's case. Today, the client's expectations of you are often shaped by the attorneys portrayed on television. Tainted by these caricatures, the client feels you have not earned your fee unless you represent him zealously, and with malice aforethought. We must not permit our standards of behavior as a profession to be shaped by cultural expectations which increasingly gravitate toward hostility.

Recently, the Utah Supreme Court approved twenty Standards of Professionalism and Civility. In my view, this effort was not undertaken to cure epidemic incivility in the profession, but to countervail unfounded expectations about how lawyers conduct themselves. Consider Standards 1 and 2:

Lawyers shall advance the legitimate interest of their clients without reflecting any ill-will that clients have for their adversaries, even if called upon to do so by another. Instead, lawyers shall treat all other counsel, parties, judges, witnesses, and other participants in all proceedings in a courteous and dignified manner.

Lawyers shall advise their clients that civility, courtesy, and fair dealing are expected. They are tools for effective advocacy and not signs of weakness. Clients have no right to demand that lawyers abuse anyone or engage in any offensive or improper conduct.

Sadly, legal drama portraying such prudent behavior would certainly result in abysmal ratings and be discontinued.

The full text of the Standards is available at www.utcourts.gov under the heading "Attorney Resources." Please take some time to become...