A Lawyer's Impact
As Legislator:
Personal Experiences and Observations
by David Matthews
"In periods where
there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous,
skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better."
Harry S Truman
In the last three decades, the number
of lawyer legislators in the Arkansas General Assembly has steadily
declined. It is commonplace for non-lawyer candidates to proudly proclaim,
"I am not a lawyer." However, there are at least seven good
reasons why the presence of good lawyers in the Legislature is essential
to our State's future.
Reason #1: Good Lawyers Are The Most Well Educated Citizens In The
State In The Area Of Critical Thinking Skills.
The purpose of the State Legislature is
to appropriate money for the efficient administration of governmental
services and to propose, discuss, and dispose of ideas. These special
functions require an intelligent and well reasoned thought process.
In analyzing appropriations and reviewing legislative proposals, legislators
should think critically about the ultimate ramifications of their actions.
Every proposed new law should be carefully scrutinized as to its need,
ease of understanding, desirability, and enforceability.
The proper review of proposed legislation
requires one to be able to think critically. No segment of society as
a whole is better educated in this area than a good lawyer. Any good
lawyer in Arkansas will have a minimum of 19 years of formal education.
The lawyer will have a college degree and will have spent 3 years learning
to analyze factual situations and apply the correct legal remedy to
the solution of the problem presented. While the medical profession
and other practitioners of the healing arts have a similarly rigorous
educational background, the nature of the training is more scientific
and, frankly, more suited to the known sciences. Learning to "think
like a lawyer" embodies all of the skills one must use in a political
arena. Politics is ultimately about finding human solutions to problems
created by humans. The training one receives in law school is particularly
suited to that skill.
Reason #2: Good Lawyers Have Experiences In Life That Expose Them
To Our Citizens' Greatest Needs.
The principal function of government is
to do for us that which we cannot do for ourselves. Essentially, that
requires the government to protect us from those who would do us harm,
be they foreign foes, domestic enemies, or, not infrequently, ourselves.
A primary role of state government is to provide for the education of
its citizens. Finally, our compassionate notion of government in the
American way dictates that a government provide collectively the social
services that are necessary to provide a safety net for those weakest
among us.
Good lawyers are particularly well suited
to the discharge of these governmental roles. From the moment we leave
law school and embark on a law practice, we are about the business of
protecting people, educating people, and providing a safety net for
the weak. This is so whether the lawyer is engaged in the common, small
town practice that requires the lawyer to be adept at domestic relations
matters, criminal defense, business representation, or transactional
law. It is true even of those lawyers who move into the corporate world.
All good lawyers have a passion for protecting the rights of his or
her client, for educating the court or the opposing litigant or sometimes
the client on the best course of action for solving the particular client's
problems.
From the moment we begin to ply our trade,
we learn from each experience. Good lawyers know the feeling of helplessness
when one's legal rights are trampled upon. Good lawyers experience first
hand the difficulties that accompany ignorance and the lack of a good
education. Who among us has not had a client whose principal woes were
born of the frustration of ignorance and a poor education and the resultant
inability to cope with the vagaries of life in an educated world. All
good lawyers have been exposed to the unfairness and hopelessness the
downtrodden feel. We have each been called upon to help the victim of
a crime, an orphan child, a penniless widow, a disabled worker, a business
gone broke, or a handicapped child. The work of our every day life exposes
us to the greatest human needs. A good lawyer intuitively knows those
ways in which government can and should help as well as those areas
where government should rightly play no part.
Reason #3: Good Lawyers Are Accustomed To Disagreeing Without Being
Disagreeable.
As a whole, Arkansas lawyers are among
the most collegial of all people. Good lawyers know that there are two
sides to every story and that both sides are worthy of being presented
in the strongest way possible. Good lawyers do not take personal offense
when their presentation of facts or evidence is challenged and held
to a high scrutiny. Good lawyers do not take personal offense that the
lawyer on the other side of the case takes a different view or presses
a different point or even that they press the point vigorously. Sadly,
this ability to judge ideas on their merit rather than the force of
the personality presenting them is increasingly lacking in the political
arena.
Talk radio and political television shows
such as Crossfire have promoted the notion that one must shout to be
heard and that anyone possessing a different view is somehow morally
deficient. Increasingly, we see the political parties staking out polarized
positions with neither party being willing to bend. It is not a coincidence
that the stridency and rank partisanship we see at the national and
state level appears to coincide with fewer and fewer good lawyers being
involved in politics.
Reason #4: Good Lawyers Are Zealous Advocates For Their Clients.
When assuming a role as a legislator,
the representative or senator must become the advocate for his new clients,
his constituents. Good lawyers are accustomed to fighting the good fight
for their clients. Good lawyers know that the success of the cause depends
upon preparation, hard work, careful planning, and, most of all, perseverance.
Those constituents who are represented by good lawyers receive the same
degree of zealous advocacy. Good lawyers in legislative settings prepare,
carefully plan, work hard, press the rightness of their position, and,
most of all, persevere. This is particularly true in the area of personal
constituent service. In my personal experience as a legislator, fully
half of my time was spent acting as an advocate for an individual constituent
with the bureaucracies of both the federal and state government. Frankly,
the good lawyer's typical unwillingness to accept "no" for
an answer proved to be the most valuable asset in solving the constituent's
problem. Thus, the constituents are benefited by having a trained advocate
working directly for their best interest.
Reason #5: Good Lawyers Look for Evidence and Proof and are Constantly
Involved in the Search for Truth.
When I began my service in the Arkansas
Legislature in 1983, I was stunned to learn that the presentation of
bills and other matters for consideration by the Legislature were not
accompanied by sworn testimony or even the slightest modicum of evidentiary
validity. Hearsay was the order of the day. A witness' opinion or theory
counted as much or more than documentable facts. More often than not,
decisions on passing legislation depended upon the proponent's personality
or the strength of the backroom deal. Without lawyers to ask probing
questions, without lawyers to challenge unverified and unsworn statements
by proponents, without lawyers who are trained in searching for real
truth, the legislative process becomes nothing more than a "you
scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" proposition.
To be sure, a fair amount of that type
of mutual favoritism has always gone on in the legislative business.
However, lawyers throughout the course of our State's history have been
instrumental in minimizing the effects this type of legislative mindset
brings about.
Reason #6: Good Lawyers Understand the Law and Cherish the Liberties
Afforded by the Constitution.
Good Lawyers are the only group in the
legislative process who ultimately have to apply on a daily basis the
fruits of their legislative efforts. It is the lawyers in our State
who insure that the laws are enforced. For that reason, it is critically
important that lawyers apply their legal analytical skills to proposed
legislation before it becomes law.
Clayton Little, who served in the Arkansas
House in the 50's and returned to service in the 70's and 80's, once
said, "It's more important to beat bad bills than to propose good
ones." He was right. Throughout our State's history, there have
always been good lawyers in the Legislature who viewed it their personal
responsibility to insure that the legislation that was passed was understandable
and written in such a manner that it could be enforced. In the 70's,
now Supreme Court Judge Donald Corbin was famous for carrying a bill
book to the well of the House and asking the legislators to simply read
along as he pointed out the problems with various pieces of legislation.
"You'd better take a good look at this bill" became his mantra.
In virtually every session of the Legislature
one can recall some well meaning non-lawyer legislator unwittingly proposing
legislation that laid waste to the constitutional liberties protected
by our Bill of Rights. Inevitably, it was a lawyer in the Legislature
who saved the day by pointing out the unintended consequences that could
arise with the bill's passage. Without good lawyers in the Legislature
to prevent bad bills from passing, it is not an overstatement to say
that our liberties are at stake.
Reason #7: Good Lawyers Are Accustomed to Leadership Roles in Their
Communities.
As we look around our State, we see good
lawyers actively involved in every community. It is the lawyers of a
community who serve on the hospital board, raise money for the library,
teach the Sunday school classes, coach the girl's basketball team, preside
over the chamber of commerce, and promote the betterment of the schools.
Every good lawyer in Arkansas is engaged in some type of community leadership
role. Those leadership skills are desperately needed in a legislative
setting. Good leaders know that progress comes in incremental steps.
Good leaders know that one can compromise on particulars without compromising
one's principals. Good leaders know that communities prosper when consensus
is built. Good leaders know that progress comes when all are lifted
up and none are left behind.
There has never been a time in Arkansas'
history when there was a greater need for leadership in legislative
circles. Throughout the history of Arkansas, the leaders in the Arkansas
Legislature have more often than not been lawyers. In the last 20 years,
lawyers like Mike Beebe, David Malone, Jodie Mahoney, Tom Courtway,
Ted Thomas, and Morrill Harriman have been instrumental in leading our
State. Before them, lawyers like Max Howell, Jim Shaver, Hayes McClerkin,
Deacon Wade, Russell Elrod, and Clayton Little played key roles.
The next session of the Arkansas Legislature
will represent the first gathering of the General Assembly since the
full implementation of term limits. In the House of Representatives,
it is likely that only 2 members will have more than 4 years legislative
experience. Although there will be some new members of the Arkansas
Senate with 6 years experience in the Arkansas House, the vast majority
of the Senate will be similarly limited in experience. This lack of
legislative experience will coincide with arguably the greatest funding
crisis in our State's history as the Legislature deals with the economic
downturn following the tragic events of September 11, 2001 and the impact
of the Lakeview School Funding case. Leadership will be at a premium.
Conclusion
Too few lawyers serve in the Arkansas
General Assembly. These are exciting times in our State's history. Without
strong legislative leadership in the areas of educational reform, human
services, and economic development, our society will not just stand
still, it will regress. As Truman suggested over fifty years ago, this
is a time when our State needs courageous, skillful leaders to seize
the opportunity to change things for the better. Good lawyers are best
suited to fill those leadership roles.
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