Hometown Heroes

C. Ronald Baird
Baird, Lightner, Millsap & Harpool, P.C.
Springfield

Who are your heroes? Does everyone need one? When I was younger, my heroes were specific, such as baseball player Mickey Mantle. But as life progressed, heroes took on a different meaning and they appeared to me in all walks of life – my parents, teachers, coaches and others who demonstrated to me the qualities one admires about a person as they go about doing a particular task.

Who, exactly, is a hero? The dictionary tells us a hero is a person “…who has shown great courage, strength of character or other admirable quality.” Heroes have always been recognized on a world and national level – world leaders, great presidents, and military heroes. Recently, our pop culture has characterized others as “heroes”– athletes, pop stars and movie stars, to name a few. They are easy to recognize and promoted through the media and the internet.

However, in 2003 the American Film Institute designated Atticus Finch, the small town lawyer in the story of To Kill a Mockingbird, as the number one hero of the film industry in the last century. The book is a novel about a lawyer taking on an unpopular cause in his small town and becoming a hero to the client and his family. Recognizing the courage and nobility of this solo practitioner, a man in the courtroom gallery reminds Finch’s daughter to stand up as her father – a “hero” – passes by.

You probably also had heroes as a child – although you may not have thought of them in that way – such as a teacher, a coach, your parents, a religious leader or mentor who helped to shape your values and gave you direction.

But you need not look any further than yourself to recognize a hero. On a daily basis, you serve the public, your community, family and others who care for you in helping to solve their legal problems. No one is promoting you as a hero, but a hero is in the eye of the beholder. When you take up the difficult case, as Atticus Finch did, and provide legal representation necessary to make sure the justice system works, you are a hero – to the community and to your family. Such action clearly illustrates strength of character and other admirable qualities while facing difficult and sometimes unpopular causes.

The courage of lawyers in difficult situations throughout history is illustrated by Shakespeare’s oft-quoted line, “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” This line, taken from Henry VI, Part Two, actually pays a high compliment to lawyers. After a rebel army captures London, its leaders want to impose their own set of laws, but they know to succeed with such a plan the lawyers must be eliminated.

Yes, lawyers have and will continue to have vital roles to play in history. But the Atticus Finch definition of hero is the one that applies to most of us. We should strive to be recognized as “heroes” by our families, friends and colleagues. Our profession, as with all others, requires the day to day work necessary to “pay the bills.” When doing so, it is hard to recognize any “hero element” when advancing a particularly difficult client’s case. Yet we should be sensitive to the fact that others will be observing how we conduct ourselves toward the court and others involved in the judicial process. Are we courteous, trustworthy, and cooperative, well prepared, and respectful? The principles of civility are noble and make us heroes to those around us during our private and professional lives.

Opportunities present themselves everyday for us to be heroes – by our actions and words as we prepare to go to work and when we come home; and by our words as we describe to those who care for us our “attitude” after a particularly difficult day at the office. We have the opportunity to be heroes by our actions in the courtroom, in the office conference, or in dealing with the opposing counsel over a difficult transaction. Hero status is most important in the day to day world in which we live. Setting a daily example for our profession in one’s community, churches and synagogues, schools and families is a goal toward which we should all strive. In the end, “hero” status will be determined by the ones who care for you and your profession.