That ’ s all fine and good for Joan Jett , but we lawyers probably should give a damn about our bad reputation . As of 2013 , we ranked at the bottom of the professions for public esteem . 2 On the honesty scale , we do a little better than car salespeople and politicians , which is nothing to brag about . 3 We rank lower than bankers — after the crash . 4
I think we get a little lost along the way . I started law school doe-eyed with dreams of helping save the world . I graduated with bone-crushing debt , a shiny new law degree , and no practical skills to speak of . I scrambled to make a career and didn ’ t have time to worry about community involvement — or so I thought . I suspect this might be a familiar tune . When you work sixty hours a week , helping at the community garden , volunteering at the food shelf , or doing pro bono work during those precious moments of down time seems like a crushing burden .
But there ’ s a big benefit to doing good deeds . In fact , being generous and helping others lessens stress , promotes physical health , enhances one ’ s sense of purpose , helps fight depression , and can even increase one ’ s lifespan . 5 All the benefits associated with being “ selfless ” can make being selfless a selfish act .
Focusing on service to others has other cognitive benefits . For example , a common thread among “ superathletes ” is transcendence of self . In simple terms , focusing on service to others can allow us to overcome our self-imposed limitations . 6 One of my core beliefs is that I owe a certain debt to society — a debt that I ’ m grateful to owe . I ’ ve been fortunate . If I had made a few ( more ) bad decisions , my life would be much different . So , if I can start balancing that account by doing some good things in my community , that ’ s a good start . If I can help someone , like me , choose the right path over the wrong path , all the better .
One of the books that changed my life is Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey . 7 The book lays out a way to break out our activities into quadrants . In the first quadrant are activities that are not important and not urgent — like playing Candy Crush or checking Facebook . The next quadrant is not important but urgent . This includes things like some emails , phone calls , and some reports . Next are important and urgent things like deadby Andrew B . Delaney , Esq .
Dealing with a Bad Rap
And I don ’ t give a damn about my bad reputation
— Joan Jett 1 line-driven work , emergencies , and pressing problems . Finally , there are the not urgent but important activities — relationship building , self-improvement , and planning for the future . As you might have deduced already , the theory is that the more time we spend in the not-urgent-but-nonethelessimportant quadrant , the better our quality of life . In my view , helping other people is one of those quality-of-life-improving activities .
I ’ m not going to pretend I ’ ve got it all figured out . I don ’ t . In fact , I hope I never “ figure it all out ” because that will mean I ’ ve stopped learning . But one thing I do know for sure is that helping people feels good . Having the ability to help people feels good . It ’ s one of the best parts of my job . But a lot of my professional work is behind the scenes . It ’ s often confidential . People hear that I ’ m a lawyer and they make assumptions about what kind of person I am . Often those assumptions are negative .
That hurts a bit . I don ’ t cry myself to sleep over it , but it ’ s not pleasant to be part of a profession that people look down on . I know plenty of lawyers that are wonderful people and do wonderful things but often that ’ s because I ’ m around them enough to know . We can sit in an echo chamber and talk about all the good things we do for society and how we keep order , but if nobody outside our circle knows about it , it ’ s not going to change public perception one little bit . Think about all the lawyer jokes out there . 8
So , what can we do to change that perception ? Will a public relations campaign help ? Maybe . PR is fine . It helps get a message out there . But PR won ’ t create a real change in perception without more — words have to be backed by action to make a difference . What will create meaningful change is getting out there in our communities and actually doing good things . If we roll up our sleeves and get to work and we show people that the stereotypes about lawyers are wrong — if we show people we care — then the public perception about lawyers will start to change . Within the Vermont Association for Justice , we created a public service committee . We ’ ve committed to finding projects that make the community a little bit safer , healthier , and happier . One of the things we expressly do not do is projects that would be beneficial to our businesses . Then the whole point would be lost . The key , for us , is to do selfless good works . We don ’ t make a big show about it but we also tell people who we are and what we ’ re doing . Earlier this year , we gave away bike lights to kids in the community . We plan to do that again in counties we missed . We ’ re currently working on teaming up with the Red Cross to make sure that people have smoke detectors installed in their homes .
There are so many opportunities to volunteer and to help in the community . Even if it ’ s just giving the person behind you in line at the grocery store a hand with getting their groceries on the belt , it ’ s something . And if enough of us choose to combat our bad reputation — with acts not words — whether we do it alone or as part of an intra-professional group , then someday , “ Oh , you ’ re a lawyer ?” will be accompanied with a smile instead of a scoff . I look forward to that day . ____________________ Andy Delaney is a vice president and partner with Martin & Associates in Barre , and chair of the Vermont Association for Justice ’ s Public Service Committee . He focuses his practice primarily on personal injury and criminal defense . He is admitted to the bar in Vermont , New York , and the District of Columbia . ____________________
1
Joan Jett [ Self-Titled ], Bad Reputation , Boardwalk Records ( 1981 ). 2
See Public Esteem for Military Still High ,
Pew Research Center ( July 11 , 2013 ), available at http :// www . pewforum . org / 2013 / 07 / 11 / publicesteem-for-military-still-high /
3
See Congress Retains Low Honesty Rating ,
Gallup , ( Dec . 3 , 2012 ), available at http :// www . gallup . com / poll / 159035 / congress-retains-lowhonesty-rating . aspx
4
Id .
5
See Lisa Firestone , Why Doing Good is Selfish , PsychologyToday . com , https :// www . psychologytoday . com / blog / compassion-matters / 201406 / why-doing-good-is-selfish ( June 13 , 2014 ).
6
See Cindy Lamothe , The Cognitive Trick that Elite Athletes Use to Achieve Seemingly Impossible Goals , Quartz . com https :// qz . com / 1026992 / the-cognitive-trick-that-elite-athletes-use-toachieve-seemingly-impossible-goals / ( July 12 , 2017 ).
7
Stephen R . Covey , The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People : Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
( Free Press 2004 )
8
Don ’ t get me wrong . I love lawyer jokes . But underneath the humor , there are some stereotypes that we could stand to lose .
32 THE VERMONT BAR JOURNAL • FALL 2017 www . vtbar . org