Leading the Way - June 2009
We Can Educate Ourselves From the Experience of Others and/or the Examples They Set.
For example: Abraham Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln is remembered as the 16th President of the United States. Before becoming President, however, Lincoln was a lawyer. He had a very diverse practice, taking every kind of claim or dispute imaginable in Illinois. He handled debt actions, divorces, slander lawsuits, and replevin cases involving horses and mules up to and after his famous debate with Stephen Douglas. Lincoln was a trial lawyer and tried more than 1,000 cases to jury verdicts. He used facts, humor, fairness, and simplicity of language to argue effectively before judges and juries. He practiced in log cabins, simple frame buildings, the Illinois Supreme Court, the federal courts in Springfield and Chicago, and even the United States Supreme Court. While Lincoln’s docket would be familiar to lawyers practicing today, not many modern lawyers would be comfortable with such a diverse practice.
While Lincoln prepared several drafts of his speeches, he produced most of his legal correspondence in one draft. He had clarity of writing and revealed his thought processes in dealing with substantive legal issues, client relations, and ethics. He dealt with some of the same issues lawyers do today, such as encouraging clients to pay their bills. He had an impeccable reputation for honesty.
Although no formal ethics rules existed in his day, lawyers were alert to conflicts of interest. He also was known to agree to a continuance to allow another lawyer to have time to prepare and prove his case.
Lincoln commanded a high degree of respect among his colleagues—due to his knowledge of the law, his honesty, and his jovial spirit, but he was not to be taken lightly as an opponent. He was very skillful at focusing on the key points in a case. In speaking to juries, he encouraged his partners to speak to the common people, not over their heads. After being elected to public office, Lincoln learned that success in the legal profession and in politics required boundless energy and the ability to juggle multiple responsibilities. His development of trial strategies provided practice for the military and political planning to come. Lincoln had a judicious sense of timing—knowing when to seize the initiative and when to bide one’s time.*
So, what we can learn from Lincoln as we practice law? In document preparation, be concise and clear. Be accommodating when possible. Be fair. Be diverse. Be organized. Show respect to others. Be honest in your dealings. Have and use a sense of humor. And whether you practice law in a log cabin or before the U. S. Supreme Court, be humble. And, keep learning.
*ABA Journal, Feb 2009, How to Practice Law
Like Lincoln,
Lincoln experts: Mark E. Steiner, Roger D. Billings, Jr., John A.
Lupton, Frank J. Williams, Paul Finkelman