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27 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. 137 (1999-2000)
Br'er Rabbit Professionalism: A Homily on Moral Heros and Lawyerly Mores

handle is hein.journals/flsulr27 and id is 153 raw text is: BR'ER RABBIT PROFESSIONALISM: A HOMILY ON MORAL HEROES AND LAWYERLY MORES ROB ATKINSON* I. INVOCATION AND LECTION ................................................................................ 137 A. The GospelAccording to Br'er Rabbit ....................................................... 137 B. Br'erRabbit and the Tar Baby .................................................................. 138 C. Br'erRabbit and the Professionalism Crusade ......................................... 139 II. HOMILY: THE TROUBLED TRINITY OF PROFESSIONALISM TENETS .................... 139 A. The Trouble with Categorical Candor ....................................................... 139 B. The Trouble with Pusillanimous Civility .................... ......... 146 C. The Trouble with Shallow La wyerly Learning ......................................... 149 III. CoMMIsSION AND BENEDICTION ....................................................................... 152 I. INVOCATION AND LECTION The text of my professionalism homily comes from the Book of Br'er Rabbit.' As'some of you may know, Br'er Rabbit is the principal character in a vast body of African folktales. They were collected in canonical form late in the nineteenth century by Joel Chandler Har- ris in the hill country of central Georgia. My daddy grew up there, and my brother and sister and I were raised on Br'er Rabbit stories. Our particular favorite was Br'er Rabbit and the Tar Baby, my text for today. A. The Gospel According to Br'er Rabbit To appreciate the story, which I'll tell you in a moment, you have to know a little bit about Br'er Rabbit. First of all, Br'er Rabbit is not to be confused with the Easter Bunny. Br'er Rabbit is of much older vintage and much stronger proof. Second, the original Br'er Rabbit stories are not to be confused with the highly adulterated Walt Dis- ney version. Contrary to what Disney's truly egregious Song of the South2 may imply, Br'er Rabbit is no Mickey Mouse.3 * Professor of Law, Florida State University. B.A., Washington and Lee University, 1979; J.D., Yale University, 1982. I appreciate the opportunity afforded me by Dean Don- ald J. Weidner and J. Marion Moorman, respectively, to present an earlier version of this paper as part of the College of Law's annual Supreme Court Day program on April 3, 1997, and as part of the Florida Public Defender Continuing Legal Education Program on May 16, 1997. Perhaps this is also the place to re-thank my former colleague, Jeff Stempel, for including me in his symposium on legal professionalism, of which, I should emphasize, he was the sole inspiration and organizer. 1. JULIUS LESTER, THE TALES OF UNCLE REMUS: THE ADVENTURES OF BR'ER RABBIT (1987). 2. SONG OF THE SOUTH (DISNEY 1946). 3. Whether Uncle Remus, the slave narrator Harris invented for the stories, is an Uncle Tom is more of an open question. See LESTER, supra note 1, at xiv ('Uncle Remus became a stereotype, and therefore negative, not because of inaccuracies in Harris's char-

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