To the ladies and gentlemen who comprise The Missouri Bar—now when is the last time that you heard or even used the words "ladies and gentlemen?" In fact, if we all take a moment to look back over the last week or the entirety of our legal career, whether it spans a year or a lifetime, have each of us conducted ourselves in a manner befitting the title of a "lady" or a "gentleman?" Should we so aspire? Each of you took an oath when you became an attorney which stated:
I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the state of Missouri;
That I will maintain the respect due courts of justice; judicial officers and members of my profession and will at all times conduct myself with dignity becoming an officer of the court in which I appear;
That I will never seek to mislead the judge or jury by any artifice or false statement of fact or law;
That I will at all times conduct myself in accordance with the Rules of Professional Conduct; and,
That I will practice law to the best of my knowledge and ability and with consideration for the defenseless and oppressed.
So help me God.
I firmly believe that this oath, comprising the very first words many of us spoke as an attorney, should guide us each day in being an attorney.
Do you conduct yourself with dignity in all dealings, written and spoken, with the court? Do you at all times uphold the Rules of Professional Conduct? Have you read these rules lately, or ever?
We practice in a profession brimming with rules and laws. We all spend our careers skillfully guiding our clients through the maze of laws. Yet how many of us have taken the time to read, or perhaps reread, the rules that provide the very foundation of our profession?
I did take several moments to reread the Rules of Professional Conduct and I believe that you can summarize the concepts contained therein to be that if each of use conducted ourselves as ladies and gentlemen in all of our dealings, with the court, clients, attorneys, partners, associates, staff and the public, that perhaps we can begin to rebuild our chosen field as a "profession," in all senses of the word. Is this too simplistic? I don't know. However, I am willing to be that the chances are better that you might remember this than actually take the time to read the Rules of Professional Conduct.
To paraphrase from The Pleasure of Honesty, Act I by Luigi Pirandello.1 Anyone can be heroic from time to time, but a lady or gentleman, is something you have to be all of the time.
Footnote
1. For those of you who know me, no, I haven’t read this work in its entirety, though I do like the quote.