by John W. Briscoe
Briscoe & Mobley
New London
Whatever their political beliefs, all Missourians were shaken by the sudden, tragic death of Governor Mel Carnahan in a plane crash on October 16.
The governor, along with his oldest son and a trusted aide, were killed when their small plane went down in stormy weather while en route to a rally in southeast Missouri related to the governor's campaign for a U.S. Senate seat.
For members of The Missouri Bar, the loss of Governor Carnahan was particularly meaningful. The governor was a lawyer and, given his long record of public service, was one of the more distinguished members of a state bar that has seen – and continues to see – its share of luminaries.
Indeed, Governor Carnahan exemplified the ideal of public service – the belief that we all owe something back to society. Whether it was his enlistment in the U.S. Air Force or the many public offices he held over the years – including terms as a member of the Missouri House of Representatives and as the state's treasurer, lieutenant governor and governor – Mel Carnahan exemplified the same commitment to others that I like to think all of us in the legal profession display on an almost daily basis.
As an organization that is vitally interested in the development of legislation to improve the laws of our state, The Missouri Bar enjoyed a good working relationship with Governor Carnahan. Numerous bar-drafted measures of benefit to the public were passed and signed into law by him, including changes in the probate code to speed up and reduce the costs of the probate process for citizens of modest means; protections against fraudulent invention development services; changes in Missouri statutes to facilitate anatomical gifts; measures recommended by the state bar's Commission on Children and the Law to protect our youngest citizens; and, perhaps most importantly, substantial funding from the state's general revenue for legal services to the state's indigent population. In addition to such examples of his support of the bar's legislative agenda, Governor Carnahan was always open to dialogue with bar leaders about issues of importance to the bar.
In his official biography as found on the web site for the Governor's office, Governor Carnahan said he was inspired to enter public service by the words of Adlai Stevenson II. “As a youth, I remember Stevenson saying public service was a 'high calling' and urging young people to get involved,” Carnahan recalled. “I am still enough of an idealist to believe he was right.”
As Governor Carnahan clearly felt, lawyers have a professional obligation to public service. That obligation is met whenever we commit our time, energy and resources to the public good. It may take many forms: offering legal counsel to indigents at a local homeless shelter; providing legal advice at no charge to a non-profit charitable agency; serving on local city councils, school boards or other elected positions; looking the other way when it comes time to bill a client whom you know does not have the resources to pay you for your work on his or her behalf; and so many more.
When we do any of these things, we not only enrich our own lives, but we also provide tangible benefits for our clients, our profession, and our communities. As the innumerable heartfelt testimonials to Governor Carnahan clearly attest, the measure of a person lies not in how much he has accumulated, but rather in the good he has done for others.
All of us need to be reminded of that lesson from time to time – and it's one that Mel Carnahan would have been glad to see done.
We lawyers are saddened by the loss of Governor Carnahan, but we are proud that he was one of us and that he exemplified the best in all of us.