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25 Brief [i] (1995-1996)

handle is hein.journals/tbrief25 and id is 1 raw text is: Walter H. Beckham III THE VIEW FROM THE CHAIR In my last column I shared with you the sound vet simple advice of Mahala Ashley Dickerson of Anchor- age, Alaska, one of this year's recipi- ents of the Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award. I have since read a brief autobiography of this remarkable woman. Once again I want to share with you some of her words of wisdom: I proudly state that as I look back over my clientele list, every client that I have represent- ed was financially better off when the case ended than when the case came to me. Even though I myself may not have benefitted. I would have felt guilty if I had been enriched and the client had not. If collectively we could make that same statement, I do not believe we would be faced with the breakdown in the public trust which confronts our profession today-the trust of uphold- ing the comm6n good, which is larger than our own individual welfare. To deny that the public trust is in jeopardy would be foolhardy. Not long before his death this past June former Chief Justice Warren E. Burger complained in a speech: The standing of lawyers is at the lowest level ever. In a recent survey for U.S. News & World Report, 56 percent of those polled said that lawyers use the sys- tem to enrich themselves. Moreover, client complaints about lawyers are soaring. According to the ABA's own fig- tires, approximately 110,000 com- plaints (many of them over fees) were filed against lawyers in 1992 with dis- ciplinary bodies in 41 states and the District of Columbia. This is double the number of complaints in 1986. Not surprisingly the picture drawn by the 1992 ABA Hart Survey shows a public perception of a profession that has become, at worst, contemptuous, and at best, indifferent, to the people it seeks to serve. The public's disenchantment is with the culture of our profession, which has become all too preoccupied with the bottom line. To make matters worse, this preoccupation has invari- ably fostered the notion that we as lawyers are all competitors. This has compounded the problem. It also seems to have diverted what should be our focus: our responsibility to soci- ety to enhance the good of the whole. We must remember that the prac- tice of law is about more than how we make a living, how we succeed, and how we discharge our responsibilities. It is also about the style and spirit with which we do these things. It is about who we are and how we treat other TIPS ON TAPES The Expert Witness: A Complete Users Guide Learn effective methods for using an expert in the development of your case and learn invaluable techniques for examining your opponent's expert witness. Running Thit: 2 hours, 3 ,inutes (PC5190138 A42-94) A Practical Approach to Psychological Techniques for Jury Selection Hear practical pointers on how to select the best jury for your upcoming trial. Running Time: 2 hours, 32 inutes (PC5190138 A43-94) Each Package = $195.00 ($135.00 for TIPS members) plus shipping and handling. Call 312-988-5522 to order your copy or call 312-988-5656 with any questions. people. Our independence that we so jealously guard, an individualism that is noble in many ways because it bespeaks of our enterprise and strength and responsibility to our clients, must be balanced by our appreciation of the social fabric. Ve must measure and judge greatness both by our capacity to be kind as well as energetic. One of the things that has always identified a learned profession is its concern for more than making money. Our young lawyers seem to know this intuitively, and, fortunately, they appear to be at the forefront in the fight to stem the tide of materialism in our profession. As noted in the 1990 State of the Legal Profession Report by the ABA Young Lawyers Division, money is less important now to young lawyers as a factor affecting overall job satisfaction than it was in 1984. To better sustain and enlarge the public trust and uphold the common good, we must continually ask our- selves what we are about fundamen- tally as lawyers. We must continually reassess how we measure the worth of our work. As a community of professionals, we must strive to emphasize the inter- nal rewards of service, craft and char- acter as the primary rewards of our work. We also must remember that client care is an integral part of our job, and that part of that care is in learning to become a better listener. Look for and be sensitive to the fact that your client's problems typically have an economic, psychological or spiritual component. Strive to settle the whole of the problem and in doing so you will affirm that our profession is more than a business. When we truly begin to stand for something more than our own unbri- dled self-interest we will regain the confidence of the American public. Let us begin that process now by chang- ing our purpose and culture from the bottom line to that of the larger public good.

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