‘Consequences – They Sure Suck’ – Dallas Bar Examines Civility in the Legal Profession

© 2016 The Texas Lawbook.

By Mark Curriden

(Sept. 12) – The TV commercial starts with a warning: “This is a dramatization.” For 40 seconds, “criminals” buying and selling drugs, stealing stereo equipment and hiring the services of a prostitute look into the camera.

“Thanks, Dan,” each one states, expressing appreciation to the Pittsburgh criminal defense lawyer Dan Musseig for helping them get out of jail and apparently back to work.

The advertisement was the talk of a Dallas Bar Association program Friday about civility and dignity in the legal profession. The half-day CLE examined whether incivility, advertising, Rambo litigation tactics and unethical conduct are causing the public to have an increasingly negative view of lawyers.

The program featured three legal legends – Nina Cortell, Frank Branson and Rod Phelan – and three federal judges – Chief Judge Barbara Lynn, Judge Jane Boyle and retired judge Royal Furgeson, who is now dean of the UNT School of Law.

The final session of the day, which included Texas Court of Appeals Justice Doug Lang, legendary business lawyer Frank Ramirez, WFAA journalist Jason Trahan and me, focused on the role of the news media in highlighting bad conduct by lawyers.

The “Thanks, Dan” commercial played during this final session.

“Consequences,” Muessig says looking into the camera, “they sure suck, don’t they?”

Muessig states that rich people should not be telling others “what you can and cannot do under their stupid laws.

“Laws are arbitrary,” he says. “You need a lawyer who understands you and where you are coming from. I may have a law degree, but I think like a criminal. I make jail visits, because I may be there visiting some of my friends anyway.

“Remember, you keep your trap shut and I will keep your trap open,” he says.

The commercial had the 200-plus lawyers attending the DBA’s program openly laughing.

“It would be really funny if it wasn’t serious,” Texas Court of Appeals Justice Doug Lang told the audience.

Lang pointed out that a recent Pew Research poll found that only 19 percent of the American public viewed lawyers favorably.

While lawyer advertising was viewed as one culprit, most of the panelists pointed to an increase in incivility among lawyers, especially civil litigators. They all emphasized that trial lawyers can aggressively and zealously advocate for their client without stepping over the lines of ethics and professionalism.

“This whole Rambo litigation grew out of the belief that this was a good thing,” Chief Judge Lynn said. “People hired you because they wanted you to take no prisoners, grant no extensions. If you did, you were a wuss.

“If I behaved in an inappropriate way, (her mentor) Jim Coleman would have taken me to the woodshed,” she said. “If I had been trained by another lawyer, I might have turned out differently.”

Judge Boyle said that civility “seems to go hand in hand with intellect.

“When the ship is sinking fast, the most intelligent lawyers turn to reason and logic and they are able to think on their feet and pull out a solution for their client,” Judge Boyle said.

Chief Judge Lynn pushed back a little.

“I know some pretty intelligent lawyers who are jerks,” she said. “They are not intelligent in thinking that this kind of conduct is successful with judges.”

Chief Judge Lynn also said that lawyers who frivolously file sanction motions against other lawyers are doing themselves and their clients no favors.

“If sanction petitions are stupid and unwarranted, judges think that says something about you, the lawyer,” she said. “If someone lies to me, I will be diverted. I will never get back to where you want me to be.

Judge Furgeson said that lawyers who “have a track record of being someone who is dependable and always truthful” has a positive impact on judges.

“You don’t know how impressive it is when a lawyer makes a statement that is against his client’s best interest,” he said. “Credibility is your stock and trade. Protect it with all your might.”

“We are the protectors of the law – the rule of law,” Judge Furgeson said. “Without lawyers, there is no society. But we also need to take better care of each other. Lawyers have a higher incident of depression and substance abuse. Part of it is that we are taking on other people’s problems.”

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