The Art of Eloquence

The November 28th YES Club was glad to host an attorney and the U.S. Embassy’s Environment, Science and Technology Section Officer, Aaron Fishman who gave a special talk on the U.S. Legal and Judicial System. Being an alumnus of New York University Law School, having worked in corporate law and in litigation at large firms in New York and Washington, Mr. Fishman kindly shared his knowledge and wide experience with YES Club members most of whom had only the foggiest idea of this world. Lots of questions were covered in the course of discussion, but the most exciting ones referred to the ambiguous perceptions of lawyers.
In the USA, a lawyer’s position is very prestigious and highly respected by the society. In the list of top professions, lawyers and doctors occupy the first rungs. No wonder that lots of parents desire their children to become lawyers, well-educated, intelligent, well-spoken and confident people.
Let’s remember ancient Greece. The earliest people who could be described as “lawyers” were the orators. They were not trained in law but were brilliant in rhetoric. This means that the art of eloquence lies at the base of this profession.
A bright example of public speaking in the juridical history of the USA was Clarence Darrow, especially famous for his “Scopes Monkey Trial” (1925). He represented the interests of teacher John T. Scopes who had broken the law passed in 1925 in Tennessee. That law forbade teaching any theory that denies the Biblical story of the Divine Creation of Man, thus it prohibited the teaching of any aspect of Charles Darvin theory of evolution. In that case in the court, Clarence Darrow pointed out the impossibility of a literal interpretation of the Bible. Although he lost this case, everybody remembers him for his brilliant eloquence, the essential quality of any advocate.
However, besides the positive view on this profession there is certainly a negative attitude to it as well. Every cloud has a silver lining. There is no exception here. The servants of law are often treated as greedy, manipulative people. Best of all, the perception of lawyers is reflected in the great number of jokes and witticisms enlightening all sides of this profession. Mr. Fishman told us one such joke. “Do you know the difference between a good lawyer and a great one?” Many guesses were made, but none were correct. “A good lawyer knows the law but a great one knows the judge.” Here I would like to cite another anecdote that gives food for thought.

A lawyer’s dog, running around town unleashed, heads for a butcher shop and steals a roast. The butcher goes to the lawyer’s office and asks, “If a dog running unleashed steals a piece of meat from my store, do I have a right to demand payment for the meat from the dog’s owner?” The lawyer answers, “Absolutely.”
“Then you owe me $12.00. Your dog was loose and stole a roast from me today.”
The lawyer, without a word, writes the butcher a check for $12.00. The butcher, having a feeling of satisfaction, leaves.
Three days later, the butcher finds an invoice from the lawyer, demanding $150.00 for a consultation fee.

As we know there is a kernel of truth in every joke. The truth here is that a certain way of thinking, a certain line of behavior, is dictated by the job you do. In this case it sets high requirements which not everybody is able to fulfill. Thus it confirms the thought that a lawyer is not a profession but a vocation.