My running partner, Cathy, a/k/a Sunny, said she got into the practice of law because of Atticus. My role model was Perry Mason. I wanted to win. I wanted to beat the other side. Perry never lost (well, I think he did twice. But almost never). My clients? Well, if I won, it helped them, right? But it really wasn't about them. At least, not for a long time. A friend of mine, Steve (also a lawyer) told me along and along, "Be a decent guy. There are plenty of winning asshole lawyers out there, but not that many decent guys". He's right. It's taken a really long to find out that he's right. I still try to win, and mostly I do. But winning isn't worth my soul. My peers are more important than my ego. My clients are more important than their cases. Fighting the good fight is more important than a result that we can't control anyway. I like Vinny. I like Tom and Jack. I like Al. But I respect Atticus. He lost his trial, but he didn't lose his soul. And he won this poll. Says a lot about you guys and gals, too.
6 comments:
Atticus.
I've known a ton of lawyers, covered courts for years, many trials, many cases ... many hours in the courthouse.
A couple of good lawyers I knew reminded me of Atticus ... Bill Eble, a good guy who genuinely cared about this one court-appointed case. A horrific murder. Bill, I think, believe his guy was innocent. I kinda do, too. But he got convicted and sentenced to death.
And Tom Hanlon, a public defender who also raises cows. A good, solid guy.
and Mic Toole. Another public defender ... strange guy ... but a good person. His client beat the living crap out of him in a jail interview room. Damn near blinded him. But Mic refused to talk bad about the guy, or give up his passion for defending some really terrible people.
All, good guys.
For a lawyer, you're ok.
And to mention, A Time ,To Kill a Mockingbird (now that would be a good movie, YES I killed that bird, and I hope it rots in hell!) was the only movie without a fatal flaw.
Yeah, I'm starting to figure out it's really about being a gooder person rather than a winning person.
Since trial practice is public and adversarial, I guess it stands to reason that egotists and jerks would heavily populate the field. Chase, I'm glad you've known a few that break the mold.
Thanks, John.
AndyMan, funny movie title. And you're right about the theme. You sorta do that with the track team you coach. You take them with the talent limitations they've got. Here's the kicker: by maximizing their effort in a positive way, your peeps are winning, too.
What happened? Did you have a visit from John Milton over the weekend?
Anyway, what I got from your blog was that running with a girl is motivational. Am I on track with that?
I s'pose that's akrit. Also, try not to let the 99 per cent of lawyers that are arrogant pinheads give the rest of us a bad name.
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