Feeling a bit like Walt Kowalski from "Gran Torino" these days ... 

I get a bit reflective as another year comes to a close and we get started on a new one.  And of late, I have been reflecting upon how we are lawyering, in particular how lawyer is changing with a newer generation of lawyers now 15-20 years into their practices. I was at a seminar earlier this year and one of the speakers remarked that newer lawyers are going into law for different reasons that more "seasoned" lawyers like myself did. Lawyers 50 and up tended to believe more in our judicial process and their ability to work within it to serve clients. I wouldn't dare purport to speak for every one but things have (and are) changing. And here is what I am noticing (again, these are generalizations) ...

Today we see more of this: Needless fights between counsel (that is, those that are not central to the issues at hand), misrepresenting case citations to counsel and the Court, treating the opposing party as the Devil (sometimes they may be, but not in every case), using sanctions as if we have a loser-pay system (we don't, Britain does and we fought a revolution against them), the loss of true collegialty (opposing counsel doesn't have to be your best friend but ... 98% of cases settle and it helps if you don't hate the opposing side to get things done ... have you seen Congress lately? But I digress ... ) the inability to have productive conversations in person and on the phone because this hasn't been done or practiced, and the corresponding rise of keyboard commandoes ... to name a few. 

"Get off of my lawn!" In short, needless skirmishes and legal fees are up, but real lawyering and results are down. And the judicial system, which a number of younger lawyers seem to distrust more than ever, is strained and its shortcomings are now more of a self-fulfilling prophecy. We need the judical system to work so that we have a place within it to do what we do. 

Being a good trial lawyer involves interpersonal skills, including diplomacy and the ability to talk persuasively and winsomely with those who disagree, that AI and a program will almost certainly never be able to match. Being a good trial lawyer isn't simply being an ass, though, sometimes, we have to be. Most of the time we don't, however. But we do have to be able to speak, to write, to relate to humans ... for the long term. Cases are almost never flash-in-the-pan events. 

So, Happy New Year. Here is to growing, changing, and embracing the traditions and practices that sustain us while adapting to be better than ever. 

This doesn't mean you can come on my lawn, though.