This column is addressed to two audiences: those lawyers who just went through last month’s swearing-in ceremony and are listed as new admittees on page 10, and the rest of us –no matter how many years ago— who remember having gone through that rite of passage.  Although my comments are specifically addressed to our newest members, I hope my secondary audience find some useful reminders here as well. 

First, though you may hear otherwise, things were not better in the “old days.”  I remember standing with an adversary outside a courtroom, each of us using the only payphone to call home following a hearing that ran late.  He called home to tell his wife he’d be there in an hour, and could she please have supper ready, because he had a council meeting at 7.  I called my babysitter to tell her I’d be there in an hour; then I ran a silent inventory in my head, hoping to find something thawed in the refrigerator to enable me to put dinner on the table before child and husband both melted down. I thought then that my adversary had the better deal and I still do.  If any one thing has changed for the better in the past few decades, it’s that men have assumed a larger role in home and childcare responsibilities (you have, haven’t you?).

Second, when your swearing-in speakers told you to be honest, they really meant it.  Don’t try to cover up your lack of knowledge of procedure or substance.  Confess, learn, and move on.  If you lie to hide your failings, you’ll only feed them.  It’s a small state; talk travels.  If you run into a problem that can be covered with a little lie, just remember, lies travel in pairs, and then the pair breeds.

Third, be civil, just as you were told on swearing-in day and will be again at the Practical Skills course. We really mean that, too.  Civility lubricates the wheels of justice–it keeps us from clogging the machine with petty carping and revenge for past insults. Be particularly courteous if you are about to crush your adversary’s legal case–it makes the victory that much sweeter and sets the tone for that inevitable time, down the road, when you are on the receiving end of defeat.  Never file a pleading you can’t show your mother.  Apologize when you are wrong.  Do not be ill tempered with those who cannot push you back.  It isn’t fair, it isn’t nice, and it makes you look like a fool in the end. 

Fourth, accept that, whether you’ve never practiced law or you’re a veteran of 40 years in some other venue; you don’t know anything about New Hampshire practice.  We do things differently here.  Be humble.  Take advice.  Ask questions.  And don’t tell us how things are done in Michigan, or California or Massachusetts.  We know how things are done there–that’s why we practice here. 

Finally, you are living in a state that has one of the highest standards of living in the world.  You are better educated, better fed and better housed than virtually all of the world’s population except for a little tiny sliver of the population, most of whom would like to live here, but can’t.  You may be facing student loans, high mortgages and child-care bills, but you are living in a time and place like no other, and your opportunities for advancement are dependent only upon your drive and savvy and your adherence to the rules set forth above. 

Give back a small portion of your good fortune, and it will be returned to you many times over.   Represent a poor person through Pro Bono (you’ll be mentored); give to the Campaign for Legal Services even if you can only afford a single dollar.  Participate in bar association activities on the state and local level, where you will meet extraordinary people and form friendships that will last a lifetime.

I could go on, of course, but you and I both know that experience is the best teacher and you’ll learn fast, especially from your mistakes.

Good luck, new members, and welcome.

Marilyn McNamara is a member of the NHBA’s Standing Committee on Professionalism, and an at-large member of the NHBA Board of Governors. She is executive director of the Legal Advice & Referral Center. Members of the Professionalism Committee write regularly on topics related to professionalism. Comments are encouraged. Contact Joseph Laplante, Professionalism Committee chair, at joseph.laplante.usdoj.gov.

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