For The Defense, December 2011 - DRI Today

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On The RecORd “May I Be Heard?” DRI Is Listening By John E. Cuttino, DRI Board of Directors We all share a basic human desire to be heard—to have others listen to us. Is that not among the highest compliments—to have someone interested and willing to listen to what we have to say? Those of us in the legal profession have a particularly strong need to be heard and to convey our opinions or knowledge through the written or spoken word. How often have you pleaded, “Your honor, may I be heard?” Do you find it hard to resist filing just one more reply brief? I confess, it was nearly impossible for me to hold this column to a respectable length. Perhaps this need in us is a function of our personalities; we tend to consider ourselves smart, creative, and almost always in possession of something that the world needs to hear. Perhaps it is related to our legal education, which trains us to analyze mountains of information and to achieve some result that we must report. Or perhaps it stems from our professional lives and the steady stream of amazing facts, unique personalities, and quirks in the law that keep us entertained and provide “war stories” that we want to tell. Others notice this need in us also. In fact, my favorite layman’s quote about the legal profession is this: “Attorneys mistake talk for action.” There is uncomfortable truth in that statement. Too often we think that if we can make ourselves heard on an issue long enough, if we can make just one more point, we have conquered it. Problem solved! Would our clients agree? My late father was an interesting and interested man. He was a seminary- educated theologian and minister, a college professor, and a wise and witty observer of human nature. His professional life included thousands of hours of speaking to classes, congregations, and countless other gatherings of varying sizes and seriousness. But he never missed an opportunity to remind me that he had learned far more by listening than by speaking. In his words, “You don’t learn much when you’re talking.” But listening is a vanishing art, apparently so close to extinction that we can take courses on “active listening” designed to “increase our productivity” and “improve our personal relationships.” In Henry IV, part 2, Shakespeare lamented “the disease of not listening,” a condition I believe has become considerably worse over the 400 or so years since the “Bard of Avon” diagnosed it. Twenty-four-hour news cycles, cell phones, i- whatevers, and on- demand information make it mighty hard to listen to your friends, family, and colleagues, even when you want to. The fact is that real listening doesn’t just happen; it requires effort. And as difficult as it is for us as individuals to listen, it is even more difficult for an entire organization to listen. So when an organization does listen, it is noteworthy. Membership in DRI provides many advantages. Perhaps the greatest is belonging to a professional organization that considers listening vital to its mission. Listening has long been second nature in the culture of DRI. We began as the “Defense Research Institute” in 1960, dedicated to acquiring information to use to educate, promote, and improve the civil defense bar. Our magnificent organization continues to listen today in ways large and small. In fact, listening is what DRI is designed to do. Consider these examples: DRI members listen to each other. This occurs in countless ways throughout DRI every day. DRI’s success depends on the meaningful participation of its volunteer membership. DRI members generate the ideas for educational seminar topics and speakers, articles and publications of interest to the profession, and research work on matters of current relevance, such as judicial independence, climate change, and tort reform. Through its structure of 29 substantive law committees and the Law Institute, DRI promotes free exchanges of thought. The DRI Board of Directors’ work is characterized by open discussion and, on a personal note, has afforded me the opportunity to share thoughts and ideas with some of the brightest folks that our profession has to offer, each of whom always listened with interest and open- mindedness. The success of the DRI 2011 national membership initiative is largely owing to the multitude of good ideas offered not only by the Membership Committee, but by many other members interested in growing the organization. DRI is likewise vitally interested in unique perspectives, as evidenced by the Diversity, the Women in the Law, and the Young Lawyers Committees, as well as DRI International. DRI and its individual members win when we listen to each other. DRI listens to the SLDOs. With its national reach, perspective, and vast educational resources, DRI stands as a valuable asset to the nation’s individual state and local defense organizations (SLDOs). The DRI State Representatives keep DRI advised about legal trends and challenges arising in the states. These days in particular, DRI and the state-based defense organizations are “better together,” working to support each other and the civil defense bar. To that end, DRI always seeks input on how On The Record
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