"Know the difference between right and wrong, and have the courage to do what's right." That's how Attorney Paul Normandin described professionalism during the Belknap County session of the Bar's statewide Professionalism Day, February 11. It's not just a question of whether our actions will benefit our clients and/or comply with the formal ethical rules. Professionalism means that we are always conscious of - and give due consideration to - how well our actions meet the non-mandatory, but nevertheless important, standards of the New Hampshire Lawyer Professionalism Creed, including civility, honesty, and the exercise of critical judgment.

Judge Smukler summarized professionalism in a memorable way: if we would be uncomfortable reading about our actions in the Union Leader, or telling our mothers about what we did to further our clients' (or our own) interests, then we shouldn't be doing those things.

Yes, we'd completed another outstanding discussion about professionalism, and, once again, the members of the New Hampshire Bar had continued to amaze me. Despite a blizzard during the preceding night, hundreds of attorneys slogged through the snow for the annual event, participating in a lively give-and-take about-and an enthusiastic celebration of-professionalism.

In my view, professionalism and civility are what make New Hampshire a special place to practice law. I should know. I practiced law for eight years in Washington, D.C. and for four years in New York City. If you want to see incivility and pushing the envelope of the ethical rules, try practicing in one of those jurisdictions.

But here in New Hampshire, attorneys take professionalism seriously, as reflected in many of the comments made on Professionalism Day. For example, in one of the video vignettes we watched, a young attorney notices that a check from his opponent's escrow account (to implement a settlement agreement) has bounced. The attorney suggests using that bounced check - coupled with a threat to report his opposing counsel to the PCC-as a means of pressuring counsel to modify the settlement agreement so he can squeeze his opponent for more money for his client.

Even beyond the formal ethical issues arising in this vignette, our colleagues talked about how, as a matter of professionalism, a New Hampshire lawyer would not try to renegotiate a settlement that had already been consummated. "A deal's a deal."

In addition, they discussed how, before reporting or threatening to report someone to the PCC in a situation like that, a New Hampshire lawyer would contact the opposing counsel first, to make him/her aware of the problem and to hear his/her side of the story. Indeed, one might learn that the adversary hadn't done anything wrong - the problem might even have been with the bank's computer system.

Professionalism Day participants also commented on the fact that the senior attorney supported and encouraged the junior attorney's unprofessional ideas. That's not the New Hampshire way. Here, we believe in positive mentoring. The senior attorney should be discouraging inappropriate behavior and teaching a more professional way to handle the situation.

The Professionalism program also included two other video vignettes. In one, we saw an attorney for a corporation preparing her client's president for a deposition. The president tells the attorney that he misled her in preparing his interrogatory answers. He suggests continuing to withhold the truth at his deposition, and also admits that he misled the company's board about similar matters.

The Professionalism Day participants commented on the difficulties that arise when one represents a corporation but then has to work through various human agents who might think of the lawyer as their own personal attorney. Participants agreed that the attorney should have stopped the conversation as soon as the company president demonstrated that he and the corporation had a conflict of interest. The attorney should have made clear that she represented the corporation and that the president should retain his own personal counsel.

Regarding the substance of what the president disclosed, several colleagues emphasized the need to stop a client from acting in ways that violate ethical and professional standards, such as hiding or shading the truth. An attorney should be not just a hired-gun advocate but also a "counselor" in the true sense of the word.

Sometimes this means ferreting out the truth from the client and explaining why the truth is important even if it hurts your case. One participant suggested asking the client a series of follow-up questions, in a number of different ways, rather than accepting the client's desire to continue lying just because he thinks it will help his case. Sometimes being a "counselor" means being the agent of reality to one's client - regarding the requirements of the law and regarding what result the client can reasonably expect from the case.

This same need to be a "counselor" also arose in the third vignette, where another attorney's client waxed eloquent about how he thought the litigation should be conducted: aggressively burdening opponents - including propounding unnecessary interrogatories and objecting to a request for a short continuance - while at the same time obstructing the opponents' efforts to obtain discovery.

Again, the need for this client's lawyer to explain and counsel was apparent. While the lawyer should respect all the work his client put into this "seven-point litigation plan" and should encourage his client to participate in appropriate decisions in the case, the lawyer must exercise some leadership in helping the client understand the lawyer's role (and reasoning) in making decisions about legal strategy.

All of these points about professionalism can be summarized in Attorney Normandin's simple but insightful statement: "Know the difference between right and wrong, and have the courage to do what's right." Make your mother proud!

Ken Barnes is a member of the Bar's Professionalism Committee, and an attorney at Upton & Hatfield in Concord.

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