Vol. 76, No. 12, December
2003
Teaching the Art of Law
Law schools do a good job of teaching the fundamentals of the law,
but it takes the personal touch of caring colleagues to instruct in the
art and folkways of practice.
by George Burnett
Some say the education of a lawyer begins in earnest upon
graduation from law school. Our law schools educate students about
important legal principles and train them very well, as we are fond of
saying, to think like lawyers. But the practice of law is an art and the
responsibility of teaching the next generation this art falls to the
profession.
As Chief Justice Edward Ryan noted in an oft-quoted address more than
a century ago:
"[T]hough there may be geniuses who think they are born lawyers, we
know that a lawyer is born only of years of patient, steadfast,
laborious study. And even then the safest knowledge of the wisest lawyer
is the comprehension of how limited and uncertain his knowledge is. ...
It is to the profession that, in time of peril, all rights of person and
property are committed. The bar is the trustee of everything which man
holds sacred. ... Indeed, it may be truly said that integrity of
character is as essential to a lawyer as professional learning. For
without innate love of truth and justice, it is impossible to truly
comprehend a profession essentially founded on truth and justice."
Few among us do not recall the first anxiety-filled days and years of
our professional lives. There was a terror in uncertainty, of not
knowing quite what to say or where to stand or how to act. We learned
the law as much by doing and watching as by reading and study. There was
no substitute for hard work and patient endurance.
Many are blessed by training at the desk of an older, wiser, more
experienced lawyer, someone who dedicates the time to tutor a young
lawyer, not in the fundamentals of the law, but in the folkways of legal
practice.
I recently met a lawyer from Fond du Lac, who was receiving an award
acknowledging his significant career accomplishments. We spoke through
dinner about the early years of practice. He had the luxury of learning
from his father, a Harvard-trained lawyer who returned to his boyhood
home. This lawyer told me that as a young man, he learned as much over
lunch with his father as he learned in a library filled with law books.
He told me about one day, early in his career, when he and his father
were returning from lunch, walking down Main Street back to the office.
The son looked at his feet and the sidewalk while pondering an
inscrutable legal problem. His father tipped his hat and greeted almost
everyone they passed. When the two returned to the office, the father
said, "Son, there are two reasons to say hello to people on Main Street.
The first is moral - it is the right thing to do; the second is
practical - these are future jurors."
Not every new lawyer has the benefit of such mentoring. Increasingly,
the economics of the times deprives young lawyers of this opportunity.
More young lawyers must practice alone or with another equally youthful
colleague. Even in established firms there is a frequent lament that
time is too short to fully train young lawyers. Increasingly young
lawyers learn this profession by doing. It is not surprising then that
more young lawyers are leaving the practice of law, disenchanted with
the hours, the anxieties, the financial worries that accompany this
profession. It is tragic when a young lawyer, having spent thousands of
dollars and years of effort, concludes that he or she mistakenly chose
this profession.
It is incumbent on those of us who have benefited from the generosity
of a more experienced colleague to pass on that kindness. It is
incumbent upon the organized Bar to help young lawyers learn the art of
our profession. One small step will occur in January with the State Bar
program, "Building for Success: The Ultimate 'How- to' Guide for New and
Not-So-New Lawyers," in which prominent judges and lawyers will address
topics of special interest to new lawyers. The program is dedicated to
the memory of former State Bar President Leonard Loeb, who was
instrumental in developing the project and who had a warm spot in his
large heart for new lawyers.
The cost to attendees is modest and the financial success of the
program to the Bar is unimportant. What is important is this
small but noteworthy step toward training the next generation for this
great profession.
Wisconsin
Lawyer