Dear Editor:
Re: Is the bar failing its mission?
Judge Horner’s letter [March/April 2001 issue] is both thought provoking and challenging. I do not quite see the problem the same way, however. The judge asserts that the law has become a business rather than a learned profession. I don’t know about other lawyers but, is my practice a business? Well, the guy that works on my copy machine thinks it is. My office suppliers, my landlord, Union Electric and many others either think it is a business or think it better operate like one.
Maybe part of the problem is that things have changed since Judge Horner practiced law. My secretaries do not have $150 Smith Corona typewriters on their desks. They have $2000 computers. Could we do without the computers? No. See Supreme Court Special Rule 1which was effective January 1, 2001. Could we do without the copiers, fax machines, etc.? Try it and let me know. I would love to reduce my overhead.
I know that there are lots of people who live from paycheck to paycheck, but then they get arrested. I know that most of those people manage to come up with money for bail. I know that it is hard to come up with several thousand dollars in legal fees up front but, I also know that once you enter your appearance in a case most judges will not let you out even if you client does not pay you another penny. I know that if your client goes to jail you will not get paid. I know that judges want their dockets to move and the absence of “Witness Green” is not acceptable grounds for a continuance in most courts. Further, I know that there is legal insurance. I know that there are credit cards. I see people tell the judge that they just cannot afford a lawyer even though they are making 10-15 dollars an hour, and have seen the judge appoint the public defender. Judge Horner certainly has had a better opportunity to observe than I have, but in my experience, not many people, irrespective of class, charged with even a serious misdemeanor, go through the system without a lawyer.
I know that some of the people that Judge Horner is talking about are desperate. But if you want to get a look at another sort of desperation, look in the eyes of a recent law school graduate being pushed by $80,000 in student loans.
In a time when plumbers charge $45 an hour and baseball players make $20 million a year, do I feel guilty about charging $95 an hour? I don’t think so. By the way, for our area at least, $95 per hour is the customary rate, and that has not gone up in about ten years. Know anything else that hasn’t gone up in ten years?
I disagree with Judge Horner about motivation. I do not think we are solely motivated by money any more than any other profession. Do doctors give the middle class a break? Do dentists or accountants? Do I sound greedy? I hope not. I do pro bono work. I do juvenile court work for which I admit I am compensated, but at a rate that is lower than my hourly overhead. I do it and so do most others. I see lawyers volunteering for all sorts of organizations. I know lawyers who provide legal services to not-for-profits at reduced fees or for no fee at all. Are there lawyers who are richer than they ought to be? Probably, but it is an imperfect world.
As for Judge Horner’s problem, I don’t have a real good solution except to say that people need to prepare for emergencies of all sorts, legal or otherwise. Life does not go smoothly or in directions that we expect. Those that aren’t prepared are going to be in trouble in more ways than one.
Sincerely,
Karl L. Madden, Jr.
Moberly