WCI 2023 was educational for me. I’ve had a few moments to reflect, and I find myself back in the good old days, listening to Coming Around Again by Carly Simon (Artista 1987).
“I know nothing stays the sameBut if you're willing to play the gameIt's coming around again”
I struggle to come up with a song of hers that was not powerful and thought-provoking. I’m certain it’s out there, I just haven’t discovered it yet. But this one reminds us that life is cyclical, challenging, and bears introspection.
Just before the WCI 2023, an exceptional emerging leader attorney questioned about the professionalism standards adopted by the Workers' Compensation Section of the Florida Bar last century (1997). The lawyer expressed surprise at having “discovered“ these ideals. There was, to be honest, some flavor of disappointment in the lawyer's tone, that these are not better, more frequently, more persistently brought to our collective conscience.
I am ancient enough to remember when these first became “a thing,“ led by the Trial Section of the Florida Bar in 1994. The Worker’s Compensation section did some tweaking, and adjusting from the springboard of that effort and adopted these standards in 1997. I vividly recall the section returning to the topic in 2012.
Then, there was lamentation that these had fallen by the wayside. The initial excitement of professionalism standards in 1997 had given way a decade later to unawareness and acquiescence. The demands of yesterday had yielded to the challenges of that today. Similarly, at some point in the decade since 2012, it happened again. Go figure. "Deja vu all over again."
I was pleased that the topic was raised last month. I was proud to join a renewed effort at lawyer awareness of these standards. At the WCI, the emerging leaders distributed 400 copies of the professionalism standards at the attorney breakout sessions. Judge Kem Thomas, the only DCA judge who is a member of the Worker’s Compensation Section, reiterated the importance of the standards in her comments there. Perhaps a coincidence, in which case we must conclude that great minds think alike (the emerging leader lawyer and the venerated Judge). Or perhaps there was concert there?
I accept a modicum of the blame for these standards slipping from our daily focus. I was surprised when I was questioned after the program as to why the OJCC website does not include a copy. Short answer: “I don’t know“ (Jeff Spicoli, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Universal, 1982). I guess the best answer is it wasn’t a priority. That answer is the best I have and is woefully inadequate. That is on me. And it brings self-disappointment and chagrin.
That we failed yesterday does not change in any way that great strides were made in adopting, revising, and promoting these standards in the past. That we failed yesterday does not preclude or hinder our doing a better job tomorrow. That we have emerging leaders who are bringing fresh eyes to persistent professionalism problems is not grounds for regret, but I would suggest grounds for celebration. The days become congested with tasks and challenges, as Carly intoned:
“You pay the grocerYou fix the toasterKiss the host good-byeThen you break a windowBurn the soufflé?Scream the lullaby”
Yes, the day-to-day becomes trying. The challenges of the practice of law are many, and the frustrations sometimes multiply. But I look to the next generation to continue to bring us back to the touchstones and to make the practice worthy of our admiration and attention.
The practice of law, unfortunately, can bring one into contact with disappointing and frustrating souls. It is akin to a swimming pool that brings the potential for challenge, refreshment, inspiration, and achievement each time one enters. This analogy is about to become crass (Apologies. Quit reading now if you wish to avoid some frank and perhaps brutal perspective).
Beware, there are turds in the pool. Whether one is merely swimming across the pool or swimming laps, dipping a toe, or immersing, the moment of encountering one of those may be disheartening or worse. It is not new, there have always been some in the pool that were less than pleasant, some who were erratic, and unfortunately, some who are turds. Everyone wants to avoid those. Many discuss them. I hesitated to label them so (it is admittedly rude), but some seem to revel in that reputation.
It is not clear whether the population of turds is increasing, or whether the others in the pool have just come to be more conscious of their presence. Regardless, I persistently hear from young lawyers about their disappointment at encountering such personalities or behavior. The turds can be condescending, pompous, inconsiderate, obsequious, and worse . . . we all get the picture.
A young lawyer recently related to me that an older lawyer of some repute and respect was not so professional with her. She described behavior that was at best boorish. There remains, in 2023, a population of lawyers that seem to display disregard and disrespect that may stem from current or past particular interactions or conflict, or perhaps from remaining vestiges of misogyny or other similar categorical disrespect.
That is a sobering thought. Bias is a natural human condition that we must each fight (dump your prejudices against us cookie addicts, we are not all bad). It is also possible that this young lawyer encountered instead someone having an isolated bad day. It is possible that some unspoken or unnoticed slight has built an unrecognized friction or animosity between these two lawyers. If so, open and frank communication is the best path forward. Meet that head-on and figure out if there is a real problem or misconception(s). Don't conclude too readily that someone is necessarily one of the turds to be persistently avoided.
Each day spent in the pool we could become more or less conscious of the turds. We perhaps become less shocked at their antics and more accepting. We may become less inclined to deal with them and more motivated to avoid them. Horace Middlemier* has voiced that he believes this avoidance is even the goal of those personalities. He believes others will simply acquiesce and compromise to avoid contact and conflict. They will, in effect, strive to swim around the turds rather than confront them.
Perhaps it is in us to decide whether we will be the professional, ethical, zealous advocate, for our client, or whether we will trend towards turdiness? Unfortunately, perhaps each day when we arise we each face a personal choice of how we will live this day. That a person was obsequious yesterday does not dictate that she/he/we would be so today. Nor similarly that yesterday's virtue is a guarantee. I would suggest that today is today and how you are and are perceived today is a choice you can make, today.
If you haven’t reviewed the guidelines for professionalism, lately, know that they’re now back on the OJCC website for your convenience. They have been on the Section's site all along (Their persistence is noted and admired). In months to come, I will renew our efforts to bring these standards back to the fore. I will strive to make them part of our focus on a better practice. Will you?
This blog is not a legal authority, see Citing Authority (August 2023). Any citation of these ramblings is at the risk of the user.
*Ed. Note Horace is a fictional compilation and literary device. There is no Horace known. Any resemblance to any real person, living or dead, is purely coincidental and unintended.
