|
On January 27, 2004 I was summoned, along with a number of other managing attorneys from Utah law firms, to attend a luncheon at the Panini restaurant in Salt Lake City. The summons was
issued jointly by Chief Justice Christine Durham of the Utah Supreme Court and President Deborah Moore of the Utah State Bar.
The purpose of the luncheon was to discuss the
increasing unwillingness of Utah's private practitioners to get involved in Bar Committees and Sections and to volunteer for Bar and law-related activities and services. Chief Justice
Durham's and President Moore's pitch was diplomatic but direct: if the experienced members of the Bar don't take an active interest in its operations, its quality, and its stature in the
community, we will lose a valuable professional platform; and the vacuum will be filled by other entities and organizations, such as the Utah State Legislature.
I have to confess
that some of the comments around the table at the luncheon sounded like nostalgic reminiscing for the good old days when well-known patriarchs of the Bar controlled its governance and
operations. Some of the comments also sounded a bit utopian, causing me to sound off about how hard it is to argue with altruism, but how equally hard it is to sell it to the overworked
attorneys back in our firms.
I left the luncheon feeling a bit self-conscious about my impertinence. On the walk back through the much-too-empty streets of downtown Salt Lake City,
it occurred to me that calls to duty/ honor/country, to which the World War II generation responded automatically, were going to fall on deaf ears back in my firm. However, I was not
discouraged. There are some big hearts and big minds among Utah's Bar. My firm is well-stocked with caring, capable professionals. If properly informed, they will respond with enlightened
self-interest. So, upon arriving back at my office I sat down and prepared the following memo as a first step toward motivating our attorneys to become more involved.
MEMO
TO:All Attorneys
FROM:RCF
DATE:January 27, 2004
Ladies & Gentlemen:
I just got back from a meeting held by Chief Justice Christine Durham and Bar President,
Deborah Moore. Ms. Durham and Ms. Moore summoned representatives from Utah's "major law firms" for a pow-wow on the status of the Utah State Bar and a plea for more Bar
involvement by attorneys in these firms. So, HERE ARE 10 GOOD REASONS
to run for Utah State Bar Office, to serve on a Bar Section or Committee, to volunteer for one of the Bar's community service projects, to sit on the board of a pro bono legal services provider, to be a Small Claims Court Judge Pro-Tem, to give Tuesday Night Bar advice, to advise a legislative committee in your area of expertise, etc.
1. Real attorneys do it - to be one, ya' gotta talk and walk like one.
2. It'll make your life richer - find yourself in service to others.
3. It's bread on the waters - the best referrals come from other professionals.
4. It's items (1) and (2) of Professional Undertakings and Contributions
at page 9 in the Compensation Manual.
5. The way to develop collegiality is to be collegial.
6. To get known, you gotta be involved.
7. It's your integrated Bar - use it or lose it (to the Legislature).
8. All work and no play makes . . . .
9. Rediscover that most attorneys are pretty intelligent and dignified, and some even have a sense of humor.
10.Virtue is its own reward.
Only time will tell if appeals like
this draw more talent out of the ranks of those who live by the billable hour. I draw a glimmer of hope from our Management Committee's subsequent circulation to our attorneys of a list
of all Bar Committees, Bar Sections, Bar offices, and Bar volunteer functions. I will be checking with some of my counterparts in other firms to see what approaches they are taking to
entice talent and enthusiasm out of their offices and into the public trenches.
Fundamentally, I agree with Justice Durham and President Moore: if lawyers become a class of
privileged but disconnected professionals, their future will be in the hands of others. And most of those "others" do not sufficiently appreciate or even understand the enormous
contribution which lawyers make to the proper and effective functioning of our society. It's time to open some more eyes with hands on effort.
|
