THE POWER of OUR PROFESSIONAL PREROGATIVE

As lawyers we have scores of choices. I often think of a Philadelphia judge who taught me about the freedom and value of choice in our profession.

In 1993, six of my clients sued as representative class plaintiffs in a national asbestos class action that was somewhat historic. Known as Georgine v. Amchem Products, et al., this $1.3 billion class action settlement was designed primarily to channel the bulk of available insurance proceeds of the 20 defendant companies to those claimants with disabling and malignant asbestos-related diseases, while at the same time reducing litigation expenses. Its significance all but disappeared when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the settlement in Amchem Products, Inc. v. Windsor, 521 U.S. 591 (1997).

While the case was pending in the lower federal court, U.S. District Judge Lowell A. Reed, Jr. was conducting a discovery hearing just months prior to the scheduled fairness trial. Counsel for Objectors were pleading for relief from the discovery deadlines, citing as grounds the thousands of Objectors they were representing. In a firm but fair tone, Judge Reed stated in words or substance:

Mr. Rosenberg, the Court is not unmindful of the tremendous work that you and your colleagues must accomplish. But, sir, this Court did not saddle you with this representation, you assumed that responsibility."

Although palpably obvious, the Judge's statement profoundly affected me and I think of it often before accepting a new client or case. If I am concerned that I ultimately may be driving a hearse, I think of Judge Reed before jumping behind the wheel.

For the most part, our profession vests us with the discretionary power to choose the matters we want to accept and how we want to handle them. A core truth of the professionalism movement is that it is in our self-interest to practice civility rather than to perpetuate behaviors that will only give ourselves ulcers as well as lead to lesions within our profession.

Our Association’s Professionalism Committee, chaired by Richard C. Burch, is developing meaningful ways that we can promote greater civility among lawyers who practice in Baltimore County. Although the Association has a role to play, more important is the action each of us chooses to take in our interactions with clients, courts, colleagues and our community. Isn’t this the responsibility we assumed when we first became lawyers?