An American poet and critic named James Russell Lowell once said, “The foolish and the dead alone never change their opinions.” He forgot someone: Big Law lawyers.
Allow me to elaborate.
Category: The Mentality and Attitudes of Lawyers
My cruise took me to Saigon the other day. My tour guide was an enthusiastic young man named Hung. He explained that his generation wants to focus on making money and supporting their families, rather than dwelling in the past. When it comes to what the Vietnamese refer to as the “American War,” he said that they are willing to forgive, but not to forget.
Back when I was still willing to set foot in the United States, I booked a cruise from L.A. to Dubai.
But then war broke out in the Middle East, and the cruise line eliminated several ports from the itinerary, shortened my cruise by six days, and dropped me off in Cape Town.
“Gratitude turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.”
~ Melody Beattie.
An old man takes his seat on an airplane. The attendant offers him a blanket and a pillow, and helps him settle in. She asks, “are you comfortable?” The old man replies, “I make a living.”
After we earn enough to cover our basis needs, how much more it takes to be comfortable depends on our values. Some people need money for luxury cars, jewelry, big houses in fancy neighbourhoods, and private schools. Others do not.
One of my favourite mentees made the long drive to the country for lunch with Maureen and me the other day. I will call her Sara. We enjoyed the lunch, and Sara’s company was delightful, as always.
It is not what a lawyer tells me I may do; but what humanity, reason, and justice tell me I ought to do. ~ Edmund Burke
Today I would like to weave together two disparate stories to make my point.
Coming on three years ago, I wrote about toxic productivity. Among my pithy comments were the following nuggets:
Back when I was attending Vanier College in Montreal, I met a girl named Marta who was quite beautiful. I could see myself dating someone like Marta, so I tried to get to know her. I was very happy when Marta told me that she thought that I was a nice guy, she liked me a whole bunch, and she cared very deeply about me.
Back in law school, my criminal law professor told us that our job would be to use every bit of our intelligence, ingenuity, and strength, and to work tirelessly, to deliver the best possible outcome for our client. “But,” he told us, “if at the end of the day, someone has to go to jail, make sure that it is your client.” He was warning us not to become so zealous in our representation of our client that we crossed over the ethical or legal lines.
I got into a bit of a dust-up with a lawyer on LinkedIn the other day. She wrote something that I did not agree with, which was clothed in reverence for human rights, so I countered with my usual intelligent and incisive commentary, informed by my long history in the legal profession.