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April 03, 2008
Lawyer "professionalism" is still a crock.
Like work-life balance, lawyer "professionalism" as touted and practiced in the U.S. is an anti-client, lawyer-centric ruse which needs to die before it can be re-born. It is disingenuous and a crock. It's a license for mediocrity, cooked up and maintained by lawyers who think law is a special club for special people. It has one or two redeeming features (i.e., when civility actually helps to get things done), which are generally outweighed by its abuses and sheer silliness. Hint: what does your client/GC want and need? Start there. See the more PC version of our view which passed muster with the overly-polite San Diego media in our world-famous 2005 article, "Professionalism Revisited: What About the Client?"
Posted by JD Hull at April 3, 2008 12:00 AM
Comments
That's a great article, Dan. You can still be respectful of the other counsel while representing your client with zeal. Unfortunately what often happens is the rules get thrown out the window in an effort to be "professional" (i.e. nice). Clients then begin to wonder whether the rules matter at all and ultimately begin to question the integrity of the entire judicial system.
Rush
Posted by: Rush Nigut at April 12, 2008 06:20 AM
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