The law was once, and still is intended to be, still could be, an honorable profession. Lucky to have local and statewide and national colleagues that continue to uphold this high standard, I nonetheless know that the American bar as a whole is a confounding collection of miscreants, snakes, sharks, and otherwise unsavory, predatory characters. Fueled by greed and given an outlet to work through their childhood shortcomings at the literal expense of their clients, attorneys have generally earned their ill repute. Amazingly, if the lay public were to see the machinations to which I am daily privy, that reputation may very well be significantly worse.
All lawyers are subject not only to a formal, written code of ethics, but also are bound by the aforementioned code of honor, or at least should be so obliged. Given that the various bodies by which lawyers are governed are, at best, lax in their enforcement of ethical standards, it falls to the practitioners to self-police. Unsurprisingly, this haphazard system is not overly effective – comportment that would be exceedingly questionable in another context has become normalized within the cadre of attorneys.
Dealing with caustic, shady, aggressive, and often daft lawyers is by far the worst part of my job, a baseline of stress that far exceeds any litigation deadline, intellectual challenge, or client concern. It would be nice if the two decades of my career had inured me to such base behavior, but I remain as vulnerable to these psychic wounds as ever, scars opening instead of calluses forming. Without this superfluous friction, work would be so much more efficient, so much more enjoyable, capable of raising consciousness instead of miring all in quagmires.
Mentorship, or the lack thereof, is a prime determining factor in how a young lawyer matures, views the role of counsel and advocate. As I have stated many times, in these pages and elsewhere, I was nurtured by a firm that held itself to the highest of standards and, combined with my own familial upbringing, I was instilled with an unshakeable sense of how to operate in gentlemanly fashion. It is to these examples that I turn when at a crossroads in a case, hearing Marbury telling me that if I can see the ethical line, I am entirely too close to it.
With most attorneys lacking such exemplars, they are guided by media portrayals, follow the lead of their unscrupulous superiors, accordingly do not uphold the values that should be held dear and protected at all costs. It has become a race to the bottom, a self-reinforcing descent…and it is getting worse.
With charlatans occupying the highest seats of power, openly flouting not only norms, but actual statutory imperatives and not only escaping unscathed, but somehow thriving, the rise of the negative example has pervaded the legal profession. Consequences for unethical, nay illegal, conduct have largely vanished, with politicians and financiers and tech titans pushing our civilization to the brink and lining, stuffing their pockets full to overflowing.
In this current environment, with few disincentives to a discourteous mien, attorneys have further loosened the already slack shackles by which they were kept civil. Instead of responding in an eloquent, reasoned manner to the inquiry of opposing counsel, instead of countering arguments in a sporting, cerebral style, many lawyers instead resort to a string of invectives, nonsensical gaslighting, and avoidance of any topic that could be detrimental to their client’s position. Sound familiar?