Gentlemen of the Bar

I had the misfortune of spending the last two weeks in a civil trial and in the company of an army of lawyers. I am not so naïve as to believe that lawyering is a gentlemanly profession (or that it ever was), but I have become spoiled over the years by my association with lawyers who, without exception, have represented my employers with honor, integrity and honesty. It is a testament to my employers that we retain only the most gentlemanlike of counsel and we avoid spurious arguments and dishonorable or misleading tactics. This is, on the one hand, a tactical decision since we have determined that civility, integrity and professionalism play better with jurors. On the other hand, it reflects the moral and ethical ideals of the folks with whom I work, and I could not imagine any of them tolerating any sharp or dodgy practices by our lawyers.

At trial, our lawyers were their usual civil, honest, and honorable selves and put on a hell of a case. Argumentation was genuinely helpful to the jurors. In contrast, most of our opponents’ lawyers were ill mannered, contentious and devoted to sowing confusion. They were partners in a large “respectable” firm from Chicago, but their conduct in the trial was deplorable. They took every opportunity to confuse and mislead. Fortunately, this seemed to be transparent to the jury. That the judge seemed to condone this conduct was disappointing to me, but I suppose that this is the state of law practice these days. That judge usually hears criminal matters, so I reckon he was used to shady practices by prosecutors and probably didn’t even notice what was going on.

If I ever have to go back to practicing law, I hope I manage to do so in a gentlemanlike manner. I know that it can be done.