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LEGAL NEWSLINE

Monday, November 4, 2024

Prepared remarks: CBA Swearing in Ceremony (Oct. 21, 2024)

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Phil Weiser | Phil Weiser Official Photo

Thanks, Justice Hood, for the kind invitation to join in welcoming Colorado’s newest lawyers.  I’m humbled by the opportunity to be a part of this milestone in your legal careers.  This is a celebration of you—and a day to embark on an impactful, positive, and hopeful future.

The opportunity to serve as a lawyer is, above all, a privilege.  And with this privilege comes great responsibility.  Today, I want to share some reflections on a few of those responsibilities that you will all confront—to be an ethical lawyer; to be a committed team player; and to be an engaged citizen.

The Ethical Imperative

With respect to being an ethical lawyer, I want to discuss the most important rule of ethics.  It’s actually one that is not in the Rules of Professional Responsibility.  And you won’t find it anywhere on the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE).  But without this rule, all of us would be in trouble and at risk of compromising our integrity.

I learned this foundational rule of ethics from Sam Addams, CEO of Frontier Airlines (and no relation to the beer). Around 20 years ago, Sam spoke at the University of Colorado on ethics.  And he shared this critical rule—everyone needs a Plan Z.

Sam called this the backup plan rule.  He shared that he and wife both determined that, if they could not find any other job, he was confident that they could both be managers at their local corner store.  He shared that, at the time, those jobs would pay them an adequate salary on which they could cover their basic needs and be happy.

Why am I telling you about Sam’s backup plan?  Because he suggested then, and I would co-sign the point today, that fear of being without a backup plan or safety net is why so many people in business and in law find themselves vulnerable to committing an action or practice that compromises their integrity.  In Sam’s case, as CEO of a company, this was not a hypothetical challenge.  To that end, he shared a story about a time the company’s board of directors told him to settle a strike, so he reached a deal with the union.  After the strike ended, the board then told him to break the agreement.  He wasn’t about to do that.  So, he quit. A backup plan in these cases matters.

All of us need to recognize that as we start any job, we must be willing—and not afraid—to walk away from it.  Too many workplaces are toxic and push people to compromise their integrity and values—and even violate ethics rules and norms.  When asking why many good people go along with such compromises, whether treating others badly; breaking commitments to family; or even engaging in conduct that is unethical or illegal, the answer is often that they were afraid of losing their role, their position, their sense of purpose.

How can each of you steel yourself against feeling trapped or afraid of walking away from what can be a secure and well-paying job?  Have a Plan Z–something close to what Sam meant about a backup plan.  All of us can imagine backup job options that are realistic, attainable, fulfilling, and where your many skills from law school will serve you well.  If you can identify a Plan Z that is comfortable and viable, you can rest assured that you are going to be set up to act with integrity no matter what.  And that fear of the unknown will not push you to compromise who you are.  And if you can’t, and if you feel inescapably reliant on your specific job or career, you are more likely to be vulnerable to not standing against improper actions and potentially compromising on your core values.

Let me add one follow-up to the foundational rule of a Plan Z: don’t be afraid to phone a friend.  When you are in a situation when you anticipate or feel compromised, particularly for the first time, it is really scary and you may resist being honest with yourself.  It’s important, whenever you feel you are in an ethical dilemma, that you have a mentor or a trusted friend you can reach out to.  And if you don’t have one, and you are in a bind, reach out to a trusted colleague, mentor, or law professor you can trust.  Better yet, plan ahead and develop that trusted friend now, before the need is acute.  Over the years, many former students reached out to me, and I always prioritize such conversations.  No one should ever have to face such a dilemma alone.

I expect that many of you will not face profound ethical dilemmas, but it is likely you will face small ones.  A Plan Z, trusted mentors and friends, are equally relevant to empowering you for the day-to-day smaller changes as to the big ones.  And once you confront a smaller challenge, you will also be better positioned to face a bigger one.

Being a Great Teammate

Being a great teammate is another core responsibility you will have as you enter the legal profession.  As a lawyer, you’ll often find yourself working as part of an interdisciplinary team.  For me, this is one of the greatest joys in my career.  Having spent much of my career in antitrust and technology law, I have enjoyed the chance to learn from economists and engineers.  My colleagues in water law similarly relish working with hydrologists and those in mergers and acquisitions enjoy their collaboration with business leaders.  And so on.

Being a part of a team is critical to sustainable success.  A famous adage says “if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go as part of a team.”  Another one, attributed to Steve Jobs, is “Great teams fight the opposition; losing teams fight themselves.”

When I interview candidates to join us at Colorado Attorney General’s Office, I often ask “what’s the best team you were on.”  The answers are illuminating and, if someone cannot offer an answer, that’s even more revealing.  For some of you, it might be a college sports or debate team; for others it might be teammates on a construction site or restaurant; others might cite a law journal or moot court experience.  For me, it was my first job, here in Denver, with Judge David Ebel.

Judge Ebel had a superpower for hiring well.  He often said that the biggest disqualification was arrogance.  His interviews scrutinized any hint of arrogance and he would, by contrast, seek out those who were interested in collaboration and teamwork.

The result of Judge Ebel’s stellar hiring was that his team—the judge himself, his executive assistant Holly; and my three co-clerks, Jack, Michelle, and Mike—was the best I ever joined.  What made the team so special is that we all looked out for everyone else; rooted for each other to succeed; remained humble and shared credit; gave honest feedback with a spirit of kindness and concern; and listened to one another with an eye towards learning.  That experience was an incredible gift because it gave me a vision of what a high-functioning team looks like.  And it’s so engrained in me as a lawyer today, that I try each day to put this team-approach into practice at the Attorney General’s Office—from how we hire professionals, to how we promote leaders, to how we build our culture.

Engaged Citizenry

As lawyers, you all have the opportunity—and indeed, the obligation—to take your citizenship seriously.  You also have a gift of this training and platform as a lawyer.  What this training means—and what your professional obligations require—is that you have a commitment to protect and preserve our democratic republic.  That commitment, I believe, calls on each of you to lead with empathy in how you show up as a citizen and a leader.

Our democratic republic and our constitutional system of governance are under great strain.  That strain reflects the impact of a virus that is infecting our body politic.  And it saddens me to say—some members of the legal profession are culpable for enabling this virus and toxicity to compromise their oaths to the rule of law.  This virus is polarization.  And its most common form is the tendency to demonize others, particularly those who see things differently.

The essence of our Constitution is a commitment to the rule of law, to listening to different viewpoints, and to making public policy decisions that are principled, transparent, and designed to achieve the best possible outcome.  The essence of this process is that leaders listen to one another with empathy, reflect on possible solutions, and are willing to compromise to achieve the greater good.  That means if something is really important to you, and only mildly important to me, I am willing to cede the point.  This is the essence of compromise—a value that seems to be lost in many of our public forums, but one that is required to be part an effective and winning team.  Indeed, in Judge Ebel’s chambers, this was exactly how we decided who worked on what cases.

The opposite of a system designed to operate to promote the general welfare is one designed to promote one’s individual welfare, without any sacrifices or compromises.  Unfortunately, particularly in how our federal government operates, we are seeing this mindset—a winner takes all mentality—gain sway.  As author and journalist Jonathan Rauch explained, however, “the essence of the U.S. Constitution is to require compromise as a condition of governing. In rejecting compromise, Americans are rejecting governance.”[1]

The good news is that the gridlock we see in Washington, D.C. has not dominated or stymied Colorado.  At least not yet.  As lawyers, we can all take part in efforts to promote civic education, to defend the concept of the rule of law, and to model citizenship in a manner that leads with empathy.[2]  Leading with empathy means to withhold judgment of others—and that’s hard.  So much around us, particularly social media, encourages quick and harsh judgments of others.

The cure for polarization is empathy.  Empathy requires a level of both loving kindness for others and intellectual curiosity.  This means that when you hear that someone is planning on voting differently than you are, practices a different religion, or has different life priorities, the response should never be contempt.  Instead, practice a generosity of spirit that asks, “what leads you to see things the way you do?”—and really listen.  Too often, we try to convince others that they are wrong or, worse yet, we condemn them for seeing things differently.  If we can practice generosity and lead with curiosity, we have the opportunity to learn from one another.

When we all scale up the mindset of being better together and empathetic towards one another, we can realize the promise of our Constitution and democratic republic.  That great political philosopher Fred Rogers, profiled in the wonderful movie A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, put it this way (according to a friend of his, Tom Junod):

Fred was a man with a vision, and his vision was of the public square, a place full of strangers, transformed by love and kindness into something like a neighborhood. That vision depended on civility, on strangers feeling welcome in the public square, and so civility couldn’t be debatable. It couldn’t be subject to politics but rather had to be the very basis of politics, along with everything else worthwhile.[3]

* * *

You are all entering a position of both leadership and service in our society.  This next step is both thrilling and undefined.  But you are not alone.  The Colorado Bar is a welcoming community, where there are mentors waiting and ready to support you as you grow and face difficult decisions.  It is also one where you will find great teammates and a close-knit culture where we root for each other to succeed.  Finally, it is one where we have the possibility—and the obligation—to build a more perfect union by ensuring we treat one another with respect, kindness, and empathy.  Welcome to this important profession and congratulations to you all.

Original source can be found here.

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