2/28/2019

1

SLTA Presentation

By: David “Bobo” Mullens, III

SLTA Meeting

Savannah, Georgia March 2019

Professionalism in these Evolving Times of Practice

• Ethics is …”the minimum standard which is required of all lawyers.”

• The “law of lawyering” – what is required to remain in good standing before the bar.

• Professionalism is… “a higher standard of conduct expected of all lawyers.”

• Why does it matter?

• Balancing the practical with aspirational.

What is Professionalism?

My Cousin Vinny – Unethical or Unprofessional?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D08a_wAC2iY

“Always do what is right. It will gratify half of mankind and astound the other.”

Competence

Civility

Integrity

Commitment to the rule of law, to justice, and to the public good

Fundamental Premises

1

2

3

2/28/2019

2

The three ancient learned professions were the law, medicine, and ministry. The word profession comes from the Latin professus, meaning to have affirmed publicly. As one legal scholar has explained, "The term evolved to describe occupations that required new entrants to take an oath professing their dedication to the ideals and practices associated with a learned calling." Many attempts have been made to define a profession in general and lawyer professionalism in particular. The most commonly cited is the definition developed by the late Dean Roscoe Pound of Harvard Law School:

“The term refers to a group . . . pursuing a learned art as a common calling in the spirit of public service -- no less a public service because it may incidentally be a means of livelihood. Pursuit of the learned art in the spirit of a public service is the primary purpose.”

https://www.gabar.org/membership/cle/professionalism.cfm#meaning

Professionalism

STATE OF THE PROFESSION…• Society’s Perception: Reality

• Mississippi

• 9,094 lawyers with an active license / 478 Complaints / 7 Disbarred

• Alabama

• 13,754 lawyers with an active license / 1,149 Complaint / 7 Disbarred

• Georgia

• 38,560 lawyers with an active license / 3,105 Complaints / 18 Disbarred

https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative

/professional_responsibility/2016_sold_chart%201a.pdf

…STATE OF THE PROFESSION

4

5

6

2/28/2019

3

A misperception as old as time…

In ancient Greece, the original cynic, Diogenes of Sinope once took a lantern and said he was going in search of an honest lawyer. “How’s it going?” he was asked the following day. “Not too bad” Diogenes replied, “I still have my lantern.

God works wonders now and then; Behold a lawyer, an honest man.Poor Richard's Almanack, Dec. 1733

A countryman between two lawyers is like a fish between two cats.Benjamin Franklin (2012). “Wit and Wisdom from Poor Richard's Almanack”, p.27, Courier Corporation

SAVANNAH GEORGIA

1- No rum. 2- No slavery. 3- No lawyers. 4- No Papists.

Founded in 1733 by James Oglethorpe.Newly chartered colony had four rules only:

How to Combat the Perception?

The Lawyer’s Creed and Aspirational Statement

To my clients, I offer faithfulness, competence, diligence,

and good judgment. I will strive to represent you as I

would want to be represented and to be worthy of your

trust.

To the opposing parties and their counsel, I offer

fairness, integrity, and civility. I will seek reconciliation

and, if we fail, I will strive to make our dispute a

dignified one.

To the courts, and other tribunals, and to those who assist

them, I offer respect, candor, and courtesy. I will strive to

do honor to the search for justice.

To my colleagues in the practice of law, I offer concern for

your welfare. I will strive to make our association a

professional friendship.

To the profession, I offer assistance. I will strive to keep our

business a profession and our profession a calling in the spirit of

public service.

To the public and our systems of justice, I offer service. I will

strive to improve the law and our legal system, to make the law

and our legal system available to all, and to seek the common

good through the representation of my clients.

7

8

9

2/28/2019

4

…How to Combat the Perception

Georgia Supreme CourtAnd State Bar of Georgia

The Chief Justice's Commission on Professionalism wascreated in 1989 by the Supreme Court of Georgia with theprimary charge to enhance professionalism amongGeorgia's lawyers. In carrying out its charge, theCommission provides ongoing attention and assistance tothe task of assuring that the practice of law remains a highcalling, enlisted in the service of client and public good.Composed of representatives of the organized bar,practicing bar, judiciary, law schools and the public, theCommission serves as the institutional framework forsustaining an environment that fosters professionalism inthe legal community.

To further its charge, the Commission:

A. Develops educational materials, law school curricula, and continuing

legal and judicial education programs on the values of professionalism:

competence, civility, legal ethics, integrity, commitment to the rule of

law, to justice and to the public good;

B. Administers the Professional Continuing Legal Education (CLE)

requirement, effective Jan. 1, 1990, by which the Supreme Court of

Georgia mandated that each active member of the State Bar complete one

hour of CLE annually on the topic of professionalism;

C. Serves as a resource, archive and clearinghouse for exchange of

information regarding professionalism initiatives past and present, local,

national and international; and

D.Provides guidance to professionalism movements in other jurisdictions,

nationally and internationally.

(LOOK AT ACTIVITY LIST ON HANDOUT)

PROFESSIONALISM ISSUES IN YOUR WORLD?

- What are the biggest challenges you experience in your weekly

practice as an attorney?

- (3 things you have experienced that caused conflict between

professionalism of attorney and another person / entity)?

- What significant professional challenges do you seen or heard in your

legal community?

- you have heard of that caused conflict between professionalism of

attorney and another person / entity?

10

11

12

2/28/2019

5

ONE SIGNIFICANT GENERAL

ISSUE IN THE PROFESSION:

The conflict between duty to client and duty to

the system of justice or to the public good

Current Sub-Issue (1):EMPHASIS ON COMMERCIALIZATION

“The practice of law is both a business as well as profession. Quite

often this means that there is a conflict between the two.”- JOSHUA E. PERRY - THE ETHICAL COSTS OF COMMERCIALIZING THE PROFESSIONS: FIRST-PERSON NARRATIVES FROM

THE LEGAL AND MEDICAL TRENCHES

Consolidation of legal firmshttps://www.law.com/americanlawyer/2018/10/01/law-firm-mergers-continue-at-record-pace-through-third-quarter/

Deification of the billable hour- In 1965 – the average partner in New York white shoe law firm billed 1,250 hours.

http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/nixon_in_new_york

• Now they range from 1,700-2300.

https://law.yale.edu/truth-about-billable-hour-0

Current sub-issue (2): LOSS OF COMMUNITY?

Decreasing number of lawyers in leadership positions in public and community service.

Example, Georgia legislature.

Recognition within the profession the tradition that of lawyers who perform community

service and measure their success in ways other than just financial gain.

Justice Robert Benham Annual Awards for Community Service in partnership with the

State Bar to honor lawyers and judges from the ten judicial districts of Georgia who have

made outstanding contributions in the area of community service.

13

14

15

2/28/2019

6

c. ILLUSTRATIVE (TALL) TALES FROM THE LOW COUNTRY

• First – Condemnation of Cumberland Island

• A lesson in common sense.

• Second –Peanut Farmers and British Bankers

• Should do versus - must do.

• Third– Praying for Sheetrock - McIntosh County• Maintain the spirit of public service.

First– Condemnation Valuation of Cumberland Island

Cumberland Island

….

“The law practice has changed so much,” says Cook. “The

law is viewed as a business these days—and not as a

noble profession. Law firms are operated as banks. I know

partners at big law firms who have never tried a case to a

jury. I didn’t become a lawyer to get rich, but I’m doing

OK.”

http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/bobby_lee_cook

16

17

18

2/28/2019

7

He was hired to challenge the government’s condemnation valuation of Cumberland

Island for the Rockefeller family

• In the late 1970’s the Park Service condemned Rockefeller

property on the south end of Cumberland Island.

• Government appraised the value at $250,000.

• Told him, good luck convincing a rural Georgia jury that the

Rockefeller’s need to be paid a fortune out of public money.

• In 1979 the court entered a judgment of $1,126,080.

https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/cuis/dilsaver/chap4.pdf.

• SO HOW DID HE DO IT?

• How does this tie in to:

• Competence

• Civility

• Integrity

• Commitment to the rule of law, to justice,

and to the public good

**Never underestimate common sense – the

golden rule.

19

20

21

2/28/2019

8

Second– Peanuts and Bankers

Georgia is the number-one peanut-producing state in the country, accounting for approximately 49 percent of the crop's national acreage and production. In 2014Georgia farmers harvested 591,000 acres of peanuts, the official state crop, for a yield of 2.4 billion pounds.• https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/business-economy/peanuts

• Unprofessional behavior by clients?

• Fraud?

• Deceit?

• Unprofessional behavior by attorneys?

• Competence?

• Civility

• Integrity

• Zealous representation versus honesty/integrity as officer of

the court? Is that a duty to public good and to justice?

Third– Praying for Sheetrock

Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; truth isn’t

22

23

24

2/28/2019

9

• The story of the first African American city

councilperson since Reconstruction

• Efforts of Legal Services efforts to bring equal

rights to the community.

• Side stories

• Wrecked trucks

• Local stops

• County-wide shenanigans

• How does this tie in to:• Competence

• Civility

• Integrity

• Commitment to the rule of law, to justice, and

to the public good

**TAKEAWAY – Maintain the spirit of

public service.

25

26

27

2/28/2019

10

As Matlock would/should say . . . “I’m just trying to do my job”

THE END

[professionally].”

28