For The Defense, December 2011 - DRI Today

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