Broadly speaking, civics is the study of the rights and obligations that come with being a citizen in a society.
To the mind of this author, the civic duty of a lawyer goes beyond understanding the underpinnings of a democratic system of government and advocating for clients on a case-by-case basis.
Instead, I submit that the civic duty of a lawyer includes the need to engage in a dialogue—a civil dialogue—about what is happening in the world around us.
Why? For one, civic engagement in our culture is in peril. The Honorable Rowan D. Wilson, Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals, eloquently describes the state of civics in our culture as follows:
Civics was the true cornerstone of our democracy and one that we let erode over the past several decades… Myriad studies have drawn a direct line from a deficiency of civics education for our children to a deficiency in civic engagement when those children grow up. Although we have been slowly sliding towards this place of crisis for decades, recent and unprecedented technological innovations have hastened [its] arrival. The birth of the Internet and the creation of certain social media platforms strengthened undercurrents that were already pulling at the fabric of our society. An increasing loss of civic engagement and civic attachment, an increase of distrust in government, and an increasingly ill-informed populace accustomed to obtaining information from haphazard and unreliable sources—those technologies have fundamentally and permanently altered our society and they are here to stay.
Furthermore, we all crave personal and professional connection. For me, I want to continue talking to my colleagues—people I admire and trust—about the way world events have unfolded after what transpired in Israel on October 7, 2023. For you, perhaps it is something different. Maybe you want to discuss the seemingly endless Russia-Ukraine war, the political culture in the United States, the impact of various Supreme Court cases, or the fact that Namibia is turning to the killing of elephants for sustenance because of a terrible drought (yes, that is happening). I’m of course open to discussing those topics as well.
There are endless topics for discussion in today’s world, and no one is “right” or “wrong” because we may want to prioritize one discussion over another. What I believe is, in fact, wrong (and dangerous), however, is to be altogether silent.
The purpose of this article is not to invite a political discussion. Those that know me know full well that I have zero interest in feigned theatrics. I am, however, interested in seeing if lawyers can expand their vision of civility beyond the courtroom and into the arena of civil discourse surrounding current events.
I need to see evidence that we, as lawyers, are willing to come out of our own perceived shadows and escape from what feels like a deafening silence. We often hear generalized statements about making sure that history’s mistakes are not repeated. In fact, that is as true a statement as any, and yet, I’m not convinced we give it the attention it is due.
To conclude what has hopefully not been a meandering word salad, I will come out of my own shadow and share this with you, as difficult as it is to recount: I have a 13-year-old daughter. For months after October 7, I was unable to look her in the eyes for more than what felt like a split second. Because, you see, all I could think of in my mind was “it could have been her.” With that thought creeping into the dark matter of my brain for months on end, perhaps as a defense mechanism, even during times when I could see my daughter thoroughly enjoying life—with friends, family, etc.—I could not look at her for too long, lest my eyes get too welled up. Perhaps, more open conversations with my fellow lawyers—to understand how they are being impacted by world events—would have been, and still can be, helpful.
I do not need to explain to you, and should not have to explain to you, why this happened. Over time, this has changed and I don’t feel compelled to look away. But I bring this up to emphasize the weight I’m carrying around even with family and colleagues with whom I speak to regularly. And I bet I am not alone. You are likely carrying around a weight of your own. We carry weights around personally and professionally. To pretend that our only calling in life, as lawyers, is to discuss how we are going to respond to a discovery request is, to me, absurd. We have a civic duty to each other to start talking about what is happening in the world, and we can do that with civility in the process.
The content and views expressed here are solely the authors and do not reflect or represent the positions, strategies, views, or opinions of Blank Rome.
"Lawyers Have a Civic Duty To Be Vocal," by Alan R. Feigenbaum, was published in the New York Law Journal on September 12, 2024.
Reprinted with permission from the September 11, 2024, edition of the New York Law Journal © 2024 ALM Media Properties, LLC. All rights reserved. Further duplication without permission is prohibited.