
With
2010 barely out of the gate, we have already been reminded that the
forces of nature can be unbearably cruel, striking with neither mercy
nor warning. Earthquakes are not given names. We shall not in future
years be personalizing this most recent tragedy with monikers like
Katrina, Carol, Andrew or Rita, killer storms that ironically sound like
great aunts, friends, and next door neighbors. The identifiers this time
will be cold and harsh: The year, the locus, perhaps the death toll, the
Haitian earthquake of 2010, more than 100,000 lost. We at the American
College of Trial Lawyers, in concert with all of our fellow Americans
and Canadians, send our prayers to the victims of this terrible
disaster. May God, by whatever name she or he is known to each of us,
offer peace to the departed, solace to those who mourn them, and
assistance to those who struggle simply to survive.
As the organization comprised of the preeminent trial
lawyers of North America, we are not uniquely suited to offering direct
assistance when a natural disasater strikes, particularly outside the
borders of our two great countries. Unlike the admirable organization
Doctors Without Borders, our skills are not universally transferable
across national boundaries. And, because the earthquake victims are not
within our midst, we cannot open our offices, our conference rooms, our
phones, and our computers to colleagues in the Bar who have fallen
victim to nature’s wrath, as we did on the Gulf coast following
Katrina and Rita. But, because we are an organization of generous and
caring individuals, each of us will do what he or she can. Some of us
will give money. Others will provide services to families of our own
nationalities in search of lost loved ones, or in search of comfort when
the worst truth is visited on them. Still more of us will help our
Haitian residents, citizens or otherwise, to find loved ones, or at
least to find answers. Some of us will open our arms and our offices to
Haitian Nationals who are joining us anew, having left their old lives
lying in ruin behind them.
How can I be so sure that the Fellows of the American
College of Trial Lawyers will do their part in this time of need? The
answer is simple: That is who we are. That is what we do. We are a breed
unto ourselves. In the terminology of the law, we are sui generis. We
are neither a bar association that lends strength in numbers to lobbying
and other self-protective efforts of our profession, nor are we a
professional networking group that focuses upon referrals and business
generation. Rather, we are an invitation-only association with three key
missions: to maintain and improve the standards of our profession, the
ethics of our profession, and, most critically in recent years, the
administration of justice. Betterment is our focus: We strive to better
ourselves as advocates and as guardians of the ethics of our profession,
and to better our communities by protecting and strengthening how
justice is administered in our two countries.
To know us better, check out our newly revised
Code of Pretrial and Trial Conduct, with its forward by Chief Justice
John Roberts. Then, take a look at the Final Report and Pilot Project
Rules of our Task Force on Discovery and Civil Justice in collaboration
with the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System. Or,
read through the list of publications more broadly, to find those that
might be of particular interest to you. If there is a major legal issue
that has been of significance to the trial bar in the last several
years, you will likely find a white paper discussing that issue in a
balanced and scholarly way.
We shall do our part. We always do.
If you are a Fellow, please log-in and go to my blog
below. Tell me how you and others known to you are fulfilling the
missions of the ACTL, whether and how you would like the College to do
more, or anything else that is on your mind. Thank you.
|