Guest Commentary: Outgoing bar association president reflects on profession
The Delaware State Bar Association observes its 100th anniversary in 2023. At its annual Bench and Bar Conference on June 15 at the University of Delaware, Chuck Durante gave these remarks as he concluded his term as the 75th president of the association. He began his professional career as a sports writer for the Delaware State News in 1973.
An institution must evolve if it is to preserve its best traditions.
The Delaware State Bar Association returned to Clayton Hall for its annual conference this year, 30 years after our last meeting in Newark.
We look much different. Fewer white shirts and pinstripes, fewer bows on the blouses. Many more women, a greater presence for lawyers of color.
Enhanced commitment to protecting the vulnerable. Broader respect for those who dedicate their careers to public service.
Attention by the bench, this bar association and many private employers to the mental health of legal practitioners and those who work with them.
More employment opportunities for lawyers than ever before. A robust Department of Justice that vindicates the dreams of the visionaries who created it 55 years ago.
National respect for the Delaware judiciary, resulting in an overwhelming workload for those judges.
A meeting of this nature should include recognition of what Delaware lawyers have done right but also the priorities that we must pursue for the benefit of society, four in particular:
- Access to justice. Technology can help or hurt. After a quarter-century of looking over our shoulder, wondering if accounting firms might try to practice law or if legal work would move offshore, we recognize that innovation, in the form of artificial intelligence, may well venture into work traditionally done by lawyers or their staffs. Although some developments will lie beyond our control, we should monitor events carefully to protect the public and, where possible, accommodate changes that will increase access to legal help. Recent legislation to make legal representation available to poor tenants facing eviction is a positive development. It will protect the vulnerable and — studies have shown — provide a net economic benefit to the state.
- Access to the legal profession. Every junior high school in this state should have students who imagine themselves as lawyers and who can find the path to leverage their ambition, polish their wiles and find mentorship that will lead them to become participants in this conference. Lawyers must do our part to encourage youth from all communities to aspire to the law and to make it possible for dedicated students to work in this field. In the past six months, our Supreme Court and Board of Bar Examiners have modernized the rules of the bar exam. Whether you emphasize individual responsibility or collective action — I think most of us believe both are necessary — and even if you think that the abolitionists who were the Framers of the Civil War amendments would believe that affirmative action violates the 14th Amendment, I believe that all of us would agree that the Delaware bar is not reducing its standards but rather removing barbed wire from the door.
- The “Delaware way” shows itself best in times of conflict. This phrase does not mean clubbish behavior. It does not mean an obsequious embrace of royalty. It connotes the ability to confront differences, with language, eye contact and persistence, with a commitment to dialogue, understanding the other person’s views and, if possible, results. A sprinter from Seaford told me, in describing his rivalry with another brilliant sprinter from Seaford, “Iron sharpens iron.” When you face ideas that differ from yours, the encounter may lead you to rethink your opinions or, at the very least, should hone your ability to explain your own views persuasively.
- We are at our best when we advocate for what is best for society, not for our own narrow interests. A lawyer’s skills and vision are grounded in the public interest, however each of us sees it. Lawyers, like journalists, come from the public-spirited sector of the school cafeteria. My legal ethics professor once said, “A lawyer is someone who picks litter off the street.” We should always be a profession, mindful of the common good, not a self-interested guild.
The leadership of this organization now passes to someone who was not born when her predecessor began his career over 45 years ago. Kate Harmon brings talent, commitment and vision that will serve us and our community well. As leadership of our profession, the judiciary, state government and those around us passes to a younger generation, we can hope that they carry out ideals, learn from our mistakes and bring renewed energy to civic betterment.
