Culture of Perpetual Success

I have been reading a lot of articles lately about the value of calculated risk and failure in ultimately achieving success. Of course, those articles were not in the legal journals, business and management journals mostly. The concept of taking risks and learning from mistakes is not taking hold in the legal world. Most of the voters in our last poll appear to agree. 75% of those polled voted that the practice of law does not allow for learning from failure.

The Plight of Lawyers

I've been thinking about the "plight" of lawyers: working harder, longer hours, tackling difficult, more complex questions than the business people we work with, but getting compensated at a much lower rate.

If it is true, what is the counter balance benefit that allows us lawyers to continue?
If it is true, why does it happen?
Is it because we don't add value, rather we bog matters with more complexity adding more work for others?
Is that what the business people think, is it true?

Fixing Law Schools

I recently read an interesting article on how legal education needs to change to be more useful to the graduating law students.  The article posits that law schools must "Prepar[e] student … for a lifetime of successful, ethical and personally rewarding practice." That's a tall order. See the article here:

http://chronicle.com/article/Theres-More-to-the-Law-Than/129493/

Criticism aside, I do agree that law schools need to be re-engineered. The following except taken from the article concerns stepping away from the Ivory Tower to  a more inclusive (and IMO relevant) way to view legal work:

It is necessity, not fashion, that causes lawyers to pay attention to the work of anthropologists, economists, historians, political scientists, psychologists, and sociologists. We look to those disciplines because their insights are useful—even indispensable—in understanding and solving legal problems in our complex and rapidly changing world.

Survey results: Should lawyers be less business minded?

That is the question I asked myself after tallying the latest blog poll. It appears that 63% of respondents believe that lawyers today are too business-minded. I find that striking, especially in today’s economy when people are struggling to make a living. Is it unprofessional for lawyers to be concerned about your business objectives? I would think not, but I would love to hear from some of the respondents who think otherwise.

Rounding out the poll, 18% of respondents think that lawyers today are too academic with the remaining 18% responding that lawyers have a achieved a good balance of both business and academic concerns.

Take the time to vote on the latest poll too (on the left of the screen). Thanks.

Institutionalized Mentoring

A sure sign of a growing, sustainable trend is when an ethics opinion is written about that trend. So is the case with mentoring.  Oregon (which was preceded by Georgia and Utah, with other states in the works) has instituted a mandatory mentoring requirement for all attorneys who pass the Oregon state bar, starting this summer.  And just in time before any mentor-mentee partnerships break any rules, the Oregon bar issued a formal opinion on ethics issues arising in mentoring relationships and use of LISTSERVs. For the full text of that opinion, click here: http://www.osbar.org/_docs/ethics/2011-184.pdf

Calling Mentors and Mentees

NYCLA is gearing up for the second year of its successful mentoring program.  The goal of the program is to "enhance the experience of junior attorneys in the legal profession by providing the tools and resources necessary for their professional and personal development through mentoring services, customized CLE programs and active bar association membership."

If you are interested in participating as either a mentor or a mentee, click the link here for more information, http://www.nycla.org/index.cfm?section=Ethics&page=NYCLA_Mentoring_Program

When Pro Bono Does Not Work the Way it Should

While the benefits from pro bono work are widely recognized, the “negative effects” are rarely discussed. Perhaps because they are considered so insignificant in comparison to the interests they promote. But, what if these “negative effects” could harm the legal profession?

During the last few months, I have been involved in many different pro bono programs. I have examined the whole process and witnessed how our contribution has generated good: Volunteer lawyers attend a mandatory training that covers basics on the area of practice relevant to the pro bono activity and ethics, and afterward attend legal clinics. Most of the clients I have helped were not “sophisticated persons” and felt oppressed by the legal process. In the end, they were so grateful for the assistance they were granted.

In the absence of the incident described further, I would have never become aware of the potential harm of pro bono services:

On a Thursday morning, when I was volunteering at the Uncontested Divorce Clinic, a group of people entered to the clinic and asked “where are the lawyers, we are looking for lawyers.” At first, nothing was out of the ordinary; a group of people looking for lawyers in the Kings County Supreme Court is likely to happen. But, that was not exactly the case, there was something more profound.

After a short inquiry, we realized that these individuals were looking for the lawyers of another pro bono program. At that very moment, we also became aware of the tone of their voices and the expression on their faces: they screamed disdain for the legal profession. I got the impression they were demanding: “where is my free lawyer.”

Legal services perceived as a free commodity by the public can have long term devastating effects on the legal profession, such as having clients taking our work and/or availability for granted.

Making a difference for indigents seeking legal services should not be at the expense of the volunteer attorneys who donate their time, energy and expertise to promote the interest of justice.

What can be done to frustrate the potential evils of pro bono legal services?

My proposal is to reconsider the way we deliver our free legal services. Pro bono programs should have a wisely crafted internal policy conveying unequivocally the value of the services provided and the idea that nothing should be taken for granted.

Pro bono clients must understand that being found eligible for pro bono legal assistance is an exceptional privilege and the waiver of attorney’s fees is not right.

** This is the first post from Pascal Partouche.  Thanks, Pascal, we look forward to hearing from you more.

Mentoring Program Surveys

Thank you, Mentees, for filling out your surveys. We received a lot of valuable feedback and will analyze the results further to incorporate your suggestions as we go forward with NYCLA's Mentoring Program.

Mentors, you should have received your surveys last week. It is time for you to fill them out and return them to us as soon as possible. We need your insights too!

NYCLA Joins in Filing Civil Action to Challenge Mayor's Plan to Change Indigent Defense Plan

On June 18, NYCLA joined with the Bronx, Kings, Richmond and Queens County Bar Associations in filing a civil action in New York State Supreme Court alleging that recent attempts by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the City of New York and the Criminal Justice Coordinator to overturn the City's indigent defense system are unconstitutional under the New York and United States Constitutions.

This most recent action follows the filing of an Article 78 proceeding on June 2 to challenge the City's unilateral overturning of the indigent defense system operated for more than 40 years through a joint plan among the City and County Bars.

The June 18 complaint alleges that the City's actions threaten to undermine indigent defendants' already limited access to meaningful and effective representation, and that the actions violate the guarantees of access to counsel, due process, equal protection and separation of powers. The complaint seeks to halt the City's contract procurement process and preserve the status quo unless and until the City reaches an agreement with the County Bars that preserves indigent defendants' access to adequate legal counsel.

To read the June 18 release about the filing of the civil action, click here: https://www.nycla.org/siteFiles/News/News131_0.pdf

New Chair for the Professionalism Task Force

Jim Kobak has appointed Ron Minkoff to succeed him as Chair of the Professionalism Task Force.

Ron is one of New York State’s leading practitioners in the field of attorney ethics and professional responsibility, representing attorneys in a wide variety of matters including partnership disputes, disciplinary cases, and malpractice and intentional tort actions. He is Adjunct Professor of Professional Responsibility at New York University School of Law. He is a member of the NYSBA Committee on Standards of Attorney Conduct and the NYSBA Special Committee to Review the Code of Judicial Conduct of the American Bar Association. He is a member of the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Professionalism, and a past President of the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers. Ron is one of the principal authors of the Ethics Institute’s soon to be released treatise: “The New York Rules of Professional Conduct: Practice and Procedure,” Oxford University Press, New York, New York, 2010.

Welcome Ron!

NYCLA Advocates for Indigent Members of Society

On behalf of NYCLA and other county bar associations, Haynes and Boone, LLP commenced an action in New York State Supreme Court seeking to block the City of New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the Mayor’s Criminal Justice Coordinator John Feinblatt from unilaterally implementing an overhaul of the City’s indigent legal defense system for criminal matters -- a system that was devised and has been operated under a joint plan among the City and the County Bars for more than 40 years. The County Bars brought the lawsuit on behalf of New York’s indigent defendants, who are otherwise without effective means or recourse to challenge systematic inadequacies in the provision of criminal defense services.

The action -- referred to as an “Article 78 Proceeding” -- seeks an order from the court preventing the City and the CJC from further disturbing the status quo unless and until the City reaches an agreement with the bar associations that preserves indigent defendants' access to adequate legal counsel.

Fo more information, follow the link to the full news release: https://www.nycla.org/siteFiles/News/News130_0.pdf

The Legacy of John Adams

One hundred percent of our voters believe that pro bono representation of the popular and unpopular is a nobel tradition in the law and should not be a bar to working for the government.

John Adams would agree. He didn't just work for the government, he worked toward creating our government, even after he represented the wildly unpopular British soldiers accused of the Boston Massacre. (Although I don't know if he took on the representation pro bono).

NYCLA is a Cooperating Entity for the ABA International Section 2010 Spring Meeting

NYCLA is a cooperating entity for the ABA International Sections 2010 Spring Meeting, which is happening right now! If you need CLE credit and are interested in international issues, the 2010 Spring meeting offers four days (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday) of cutting-edge programs that you should check out. Also scheduled are lunches with distinguished speakers and lots of networking and social events too. Rates for programs are the same for NYCLA members as for ABA members. You can check out the programs by following this link:

http://www.abanet.org/intlaw/spring2010/agenda.html

NYCLA Board Adopts Task Force on Professionalism Report

On January 11, NYCLA's Task Force on Professionalism's "Report on Professionalism" was adopted by the NYCLA Board of Directors. James B. Kobak Jr., NYCLA's president elect and chair of the Task Force said, "The work of the Task Force follows NYCLA's tradition of taking on questions of serious concern to the legal community and citizenry of New York in a frank and congenial manner from a diversity of perspectives."

To download a copy of the report, visit www.nycla.org and go to the "News" section on NYCLA's homepage.

The Pilot Mentoring Program has begun

The Task Force on Professionalism's Pilot Mentoring Program is being unveiled.

After months of organizing and negotiating how the program will work and best practices; contacting mentors and a difficult selection process of many fine applicants for mentees; and preparing training materials, making final adjustments and last minute trouble shooting, NYCLA and the Task Force on Professionalism are thrilled to be hosting the kick-off party to start the first year of the Pilot Mentoring Program.

Through its surveys and analysis, the Task Force recognized a real need for mentoring amongst New York legal professionals. The mentoring program hopes to fill that need for NYCLA members.

I plan on following the progress of the Mentoring Program through this blog in order to support the Program in two ways: (1) to generate comments on the effectiveness of the Mentoring Program during this first, very crucial year. We would like to get the benefit of suggestions from NYCLA members who are participating in the Program (and those who are not participating, but still have suggestions) in order to work out any kinks and strengthen the Program; and (2) to generate interest in the Program in order to make this a sustainable, perennial Program.

The need for mentoring in the New York legal community is undeniable. Through the NYCLA's Mentoring Program we hope to advance confident lawyers to be more satisfied in their profession.

Really? One third of you want to quit?

Our last poll--If you could do it all over again, would you go to law school, knowing what you know now?--produced disheartening results. At first, I was sort of pleased that the majority voted in the positive (62%), especially knowing that people with an ax to grind or a gripe to share are more apt to contribute in an anonymous forum. But, then I stood back and thought, that is over one third of people who bothered to vote (37%); they would rather not be doing what they are doing now.

The unfortunate poll result begs the question: what would you rather be doing?

Mentoring Back on the Agenda

Rumor has it that the NYCLA Task Force on Professionalism is in the early stages of developing a mentoring program. The Task Force's efforts have identified a serious need for mentoring to advance professionalism and satisfaction among lawyers. We will keep you updated as we receive more information.

In Search of Pride in our Profession

I would like to share a quote by Edmund Burke (political philosopher) that I recently read: "No other profession is more closely connected with actual life than the law. It concerns the highest of all temporal interests of man--property, reputation, the peace of families, the arbitrations and peace of nations, liberty, life even, and the very foundations of society."

When I fear I am turning into a monster of my profession, I am relieved to find inspiring words, like those from Mr. Burke, to remind me of why I worked hard to become a lawyer in the first place.

Relying on Advice from Ethics Hotlines

On an appeal form the imposition of sanctions against an attorney for frivolous and bad faith actions, the Court of Appeal of California, Third District in Wallis v. PHL Assoc., considered the applicability of an opinion the attorney received from the State Bar ethics hotline. The atorney argued that the call demonstrated her good faith. The court rejected the reliance because (1) the lawyer did not disuss with the person at the hotline her duties with repect to the protective order and (2) "self-serving evidence of what was said in a confidential conversation with a persson at the ethics hotline is unconvincing." In any case, the court said, the call to the hotline was "weak" evidence of good faith since the eicis hotline is a "confidenial reserch service" and "not a source of legal advice."

The Final Chapter - The Defintion

If you recall how this blog was started, we were trying to finesse the definition of professionalism that was formulated by the Task Force. That definition can be found if you scroll to the very, very bottom of this blog, that sort of mass of writing that looks as though it is being transcribed to Moses or is narrating part of a story at the beginning of a Star Wars movie. The final paragraph states:


"Although duties to their clients in particular matters are paramount, lawyers must throughout their careers remain conscious of and committed to the goal of improving the profession and the system of justice. This commitment includes taking personal and professional measures to increase the availability of legal services and abet even-handed and efficient application and administration of the legal system for all segments of society."


Beyond the duty to clients, we generally focus on our ethical responsibilities but not to the extent of improving the profession by increasing the availability of legal services. Do you agree with this responsibility as stated in the draft definition?