|
 |
|
|
Vol. 74, No. 7, July 2001
|
Living in Interesting Times
Resisting Change
The State Bar and other entities are studying how nonlegal groups and events
threaten the traditional order of the legal profession. Outreach to members
is critical, because the results will long affect the profession.
by George C. Brown,
State Bar executive director
RECENTLY, SEVERAL FRIENDS, knowing the changes that are facing the Bar
and the Bar association, have provided me a passage from Machiavelli's
The Prince.
In his 16th century pamphlet, Niccolo Machiavelli, the son of a lawyer,
advised Prince Lorenzo Di Medici "... that there is nothing more difficult
to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle,
than to initiate a new order of things. For the reformer has enemies in
all those who profit by the old order, and only lukewarm defenders in
all those who would profit from the new order, this lukewarmness arising
partly from fear of their adversaries who have the laws in their favor;
and partly from the incredulity of mankind, who do not truly believe in
anything new until they have had actual experience of it." (Chapter 6)
Machievelli's words ring true today because he is writing of the human
condition. Though Machiavelli writes about the political dangers to a
reformer of being what we today call a change agent, he also is writing
about the natural human response to change. Those who are successful under
the current rules (whether those rules are statutory law, judicial opinion,
or the informal rules of life and work) will resist change "with the zeal
of partisans." At the same time, those who may benefit from the new rules
will support them only lukewarmly because the new rules are not yet fully
known, and those who may benefit do not know how or if they ultimately
will benefit under the new rules.
This resistance to change is especially strong when that change comes
from the outside, whether from a conquering nation-state as in Machiavelli's
time, or a group or event that threatens the traditional order of the
profession in our time, such as CPAs, banks, real estate agents, financial
planners, pro se litigants, or the rise of the Internet.
In the last year, the various efforts to deal with change have included
the Wisconsin Supreme Court's task force to find ways to manage the massive
increase in pro se litigation that is clogging many of our courts; the
joint efforts of the State Bar, the supreme court, and the League of Women
Voters to understand and improve public trust and confidence in the legal
system; and the State Bar's efforts to come to grips with the intrusion
of nonlegal professionals into traditional work of lawyers through the
"Seize the Future" initiative.
None of these efforts is complete. There is no consensus among the profession
as to their resolution. Some argue that consensus on these large issues
is impossible, that leadership is required.
In May, the State Bar Board of Governors adopted a resolution to create
a Wisconsin Commission on Multidisciplinary Practice to draft a report
and recommendations dealing with all aspects of MDPs for consideration
by the board at its September 2002 meeting. Outreach to the members is
a critical part of the process. Public hearings will be held statewide
in March and April 2002, with an Assembly of Members convened during the
May 2002 convention.
The results of this process will have a long-lasting impact on the profession.
And whatever has an impact on the profession most certainly has an impact
on the State Bar association.
In times like these, the assuring words of another lawyer provide strength:
"I do the very best I know how, the very best I can. If the end brings
me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to anything. If
the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make
no difference." - A. Lincoln
|
