The eJustice Network

Lawyers. We love to hate them, don’t we?

Well, get out your rotten tomatoes. Because I’m one of them. So hate me, too. Lord knows I hated myself when I behaved in ways I wasn’t proud of.

But I try not to act like that any more. I have seen the light (and the Light as well, but that’s another story for another day) and hold myself to a higher standard. Or more particularly, to an inner standard I’ve had all along. One I sometimes pushed aside when I was feeling the pressures of the moment.

Ideals and principles aren’t about some rigid set of rules laid down from above. They have to come from within us. But whether we have them and how we apply them depends on a whole lot of factors that most people never consider.

Nevertheless, lawyers are expected to abide by a set of external laws that govern their practice. They’re called the canons of ethics, which have been codified and expanded upon by the Florida Supreme Court. But to me, it’s a wasted effort. Because there’s no court in the world that can make someone be ethical. Either it’s in them, or it’s not.

Let’s not blame the lawyers, though. They’re sworn to zealously represent and hold inviolate the interests of their clients. Most take their oath quite seriously, and do their very best to live up to those standards.

Though reasonable minds may disagree, lawyers are human beings, too. And like the rest of the species, everything we do is filtered through our own set of principles, values, and inner conditions. Then it’s further distorted by the personalities, styles and attitudes with which we go about our effort. To make matters worse, the demands of family, business, and the rest of life are always lurking in the background, distracting us and influencing our actions.

Yet we lawyers somehow have to accommodate each of those factors, not only in our clients and us, but in everyone else involved. Bailiffs and judicial assistants. Opposing lawyers. Other parties. Witnesses. Even the judge and jury. All trying to do the same balancing act. Sometimes with success. Sometimes without it.

Is it any wonder, then, that our image of lawyers is so tarnished? They’re put in the midst of this quagmire of characteristics and hidden factors that often have nothing to do with the deal or issue at controversy. And then they’re held to subjective and often arbitrary standards of behavior, not to mention pie-in-the-sky expectations to get results.

Often, though, that image is influenced as much by the tone of their interactions and choice of methods, things that are not even touched upon in the canons. These are matters of personal interpretation, style, and practice, yet they influence the public’s satisfaction with the legal process as much as does the ultimate result.

That’s where this term “holistic lawyer” comes in. It’s supposed to mean a lawyer that can put all the competing interests involved – even their own – into a magic blender and come up with a result that somehow serves “your highest good,” whatever that means. And hopefully does it in a way that makes you feel good about it all.

Don’t kid yourself. Holistic lawyers don’t have some new bag of tricks to draw from. We’re doing the same thing as everyone else – looking at your situation, and trying to use our experience and understanding of the law to come up with something that works. And holistic or not, we’re all trying to do it the best that we can on that particularly day.

However, “holistic” lawyers sometimes differ from other lawyers in the way we see this process, and our role within it. Most of us are fed up with the traditional ways of doing business – ways that reflect the cut-throat society we live in, and the common belief (legitimate or not) that people have to fight to win and make a buck. So we might look at things a little differently, or express ourselves in non-traditional ways. And some of us might even be a little less contentious or quick on the trigger. But that doesn’t mean we won’t fight if we have to.

The traditional approaches aren’t really that much different. Most lawyers try to do what’s best for their clients. It’s just that they’re caught up in a situation that puts them in direct competition with others who want things to turn out their way. And sometimes that process doesn’t feel so good to those caught up in the middle of it. Or who look at it from the outside.
We are the ones who must balance your desire to extract a pound of flesh and get the best deal you can with the cost and risk and myriad other factors involved. And we’re the ones you call upon to anticipate and prepare for unknowable future events as if they’re a certainty. And to know everything, even things obscure, that may in any way relate to your affairs. Are you really surprised that we act the way we do, especially when you ask us to do whatever it takes?

Certainly some lawyers are overly zealous in their efforts. They practice in a way that looks like they’re perpetuating the battles just to run up their bills. And often fight over every little thing. These types try the patience of us all. And make us wonder if dealing with such people is worth the toll it takes on us in the process.

But then, there are people like that everywhere. Part of life is learning to engage and work around them as we go on about our way.

Nevertheless, you the client decide what characteristics you want in a lawyer. You can gravitate to the rabid pit-bull types if you like. You can go to a lawyer that wouldn’t fight that way if his or her life depended on it. Or one somewhere in between. It’s all a question of style.

Holistic has nothing to do with professional competence, areas of expertise, or whether a lawyer can easily shift perspectives to help you see and explore new possibilities before you. But it does tell you a little about how they see themselves and go about their practice, and that can be a valuable aid in selecting a lawyer.

Lawyers claiming to be holistic might gravitate toward ways to make the peace, rather than escalate the fight. They might look at your entire situation and tell it to you straight, giving their opinion on what’s best for your overall life or business. Or they could address things that appear to have little to do with your legal affairs but which might be working beneath the surface to sabotage your efforts to deal with them.

But then, who says that’s the bailiwick of those who like the moniker? There are a lot of caring and considerate lawyers trying to minimize your prospects for conflict who don’t call themselves holistic. And even more who won’t be afraid to tell you that what you’re trying to do isn’t advisable. Or who will help you consider all the paths that may be available to you, empowering you to set your own course through life. Even to help you get there, if the destination and path to get there are ones you both can live with.

It doesn’t take a self-described holistic lawyer to do that. Because many of us have been doing that for years, long before this term holistic ever came into being.

So what’s the answer? Will the term holistic really have significance in your hour of need?

After 30 years serving people of all backgrounds in a variety of efforts, I think that what mattered most was not my technical competence, nor the results we achieved, even as important as they were. It certainly wasn’t holding me out as holistic, because I never did – even though I always was.

Rather, in my experience it was the connection of two human beings, each doing their part toward a common cause. And the sense of honor and respect that grew between us as we discovered a little more about each other, and ourselves, as we went about the process. Not to mention the good feelings we both got from easing their struggle, fear, and pain along the way.

Is that holistic? I don’t know.

All I do know is there’s no easy answer to the question before us. To some, “holistic lawyer” may be an oxymoron that muddies the waters of who that lawyer is and what he or she can do to help. For others, it might be a reliable guide to find someone who brings to the table the set of characteristics needed most.

I can’t advise you on this point, because to me labels don’t matter – only the heart that beats within, and the mind through which it acts. And that’s not something I can tell without meeting them first.

Does it matter to you? I trust you’ll know the answer when the time comes.