Avarice

I am sorry that I have been away from MOJ for two weeks; however, I have just caught up with the most recent postings. What do I say to the many eloquent and insightful commentaries to issues ranging from the enormous tragedy in our Gulf Coast, to the questions emerging from the Spokane diocese bankruptcy, to those dealing yet again with interest groups challenging Judge Roberts? And, of course, what do we as lawyers and law teachers say and do regarding these and other pressing matters of the day?

I return from an unexpected trip to Washington, DC. The wife of one of my best friends of almost forty years asked me to do the funeral of her husband who was also my college roommate for three years. He died unexpectedly whilst he and his family were on vacation. He and he son were swimming when he suffered a fatal heart attack that took his life instantaneously. His son brought him back into shore. I mention this because I think my dear friend’s life has something for us in the legal community, especially teachers, to ponder regarding the subjects I have mentioned.

My friend who was in reality another brother was a good man, a devoted father, a faithful husband, and a great public servant. He was a career civil servant in the Federal Government who rose to be the Deputy Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade and Affairs. He was one of the most intelligent people I ever met. He was also a man of outstanding virtue. That is probably why Republican and Democrat political appointees, including current and former Cabinet secretaries, and many others, came to pay their respects. He had many opportunities to leave government service to make a fortune, but he chose not to do this. Because he was a person of great virtue, he understood the common good and how it intersected not only his life but the life of everyone else. He had over 2,500 people who worked for him in all sorts of capacities. Most of them attended either the wakes or the funeral. In life and death he taught me something of great value, and that is this: greed corrupts the human soul. That is what he taught so many people who came to honor him.

I think those of us who are or who have been law teachers, and those of us who are practicing attorneys could learn from his example. Yesterday, I read about the closing of that well established law firm Coudert Brothers. Whilst the newspapers kept mentioning money and profit motivation, I saw something in the New York Times article that may have suggested there were many people of virtue in the firm. It seemed that many of their lawyers were most interested in doing the best job they could for their clients; billing for the services came after the fact. While this may have been their Achilles’ heel in today’s world of competitiveness, I just wonder if the souls of many were saved from the “success” of this world because greed was not what drove them and their firm. The article mentions that many top drawers of the firm could have made more money elsewhere, but they stayed and continued to labor for those whom they represented.

So, now I come to the aftermath of Katrina, the news about Spokane, etc. What is driving people in these contexts to plunder in the aftermath of a natural disaster, a bankruptcy, and a judicial nomination, just to mention a few issues of the day

Avarice.

There are many great souls I am certain who are struggling to bring aid to the people in the Gulf, to protect the Church and its good works, and to enable a decent man to be a Supreme Court Justice. But, there are those driven by avarice: they loot on different fronts to serve themselves and their interests, but they forget something else: the common good. I bring up a personal point about Spokane that reinforces one made by Prof. Steve Bainbridge. Last year when I was still in
Spokane and heard lawyers claiming they would attach all assets of the diocese including the cemeteries, I wondered if they would first exhume the bodies or if they would simply develop over them?

And, that is where we who are Christian come into the play. How do we practice the profession of law? How do we teach it? I know there are many extraordinary and edifying responses to these two inquiries. But, perhaps we can learn the lesson taught to me by the friend I buried last week: avarice does not ennoble the human soul and person; rather, it corrupts. And now we find corruption at the heart of too many problems some of which are on the verge of overwhelming many good people and the national spirit.

So, what can we do in response? We can live a life of example to demonstrate to the world and to our students that avarice does not profit anyone in the long term. If we can do this, I believe that God will be ready to step in and take care of the rest. RJA sj

PS  I have been having extraordinary problems with the spacing of the text of this posting. I apologize. I tried to fix it more than a dozen times, but something is wrong with TypePad tonight, at least over on my side of the Great Pond. Thanks for your understanding.