Tomorrow is National Love Your Lawyer Day

[aurademystere]

It's better than Festivus!


On Friday, the First Thing We Do, Let’s Love All the Lawyers

Soliciting affection, attorneys court recognition, but will they find suitors?



Lawyers throughout the U.S. are urged to celebrate Love Your Lawyer Day on Nov. 6. Above, actor Gregory Peck plays attorney Atticus Finch in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ in a 1962 photo. ENLARGE

Lawyers throughout the U.S. are urged to celebrate Love Your Lawyer Day on Nov. 6. Above, actor Gregory Peck plays attorney Atticus Finch in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ in a 1962 photo. PHOTO: UNIVERSAL/ASSOCIATED PRESS

By JACOB GERSHMAN

Nov. 5, 2015 8:43 p.m. ET

0 COMMENTS

For a profession sometimes held in contempt, it was a plaintive plea: Lawyers were looking for love.



“WHEREAS, Lawyers have consistently been the target of verbal bashing, derogatory portrayals and literature is rife with lawyer bashing dated back hundreds of years,” reads the preamble of a resolution unanimously passed by the American Bar Association’s law practice division last month.





“Lawyers throughout the nation,” it said, “are urged to celebrate ‘Love Your Lawyer Day’ to help promote a positive and more respected image of lawyers and their contributions to society.”



There is no law that says you must celebrate Love Your Lawyer Day on Friday. And no one expects the occasion to become a federal holiday. But the thought of dedicating a whole day to loving litigators is resonating with the legal profession, if not the wider public.



The idea was the brainchild of a legal marketer from Florida. A turning point came this year when the ABA division not only embraced the day but asked the entire legal community to observe and promote it.



Local bar groups across the country have enthusiastically complied. “#LoveYourLawyerDay is tomorrow! Get the word out however you can,” tweeted the New York State Bar Association.



Florida appellate judge Simone Marstiller put the goal of the day more succinctly on Twitter. It’s “a day of pampering…MYSELF!!” she wrote. In a phone interview, she said lawyers could use a day that recognizes the hard work they do that often goes unnoticed. Her actual plan to celebrate the day is to surprise legal clerks at her Tallahassee courthouse with an ice cream party.



So set aside the first Friday in November. Or maybe not. Some lawyers are questioning the wisdom of their peers making such a direct appeal for affection.



“I think it’s ridiculous. I haven’t seen ‘Love Your Doctor Day’ or ‘Love Your Accountant Day.’ It’s making lawyers what they already are: an open target for criticism,” said Brian Tannebaum, a criminal defense lawyer and author of “The Practice: Brutal Truths About Lawyers and Lawyering.”



That is exactly what happened in the early 1990s when a former president of the state bar of California suggested that lawyer-bashing could be a hate crime. Radio talk shows and late-night comedians responded with an onslaught of mockery.



If Love Your Lawyer Day does backfire, it would happen at a time when lawyers as a group seem to be gaining more respect, relatively speaking.



A recent Gallup poll found that the percentage of Americans who think lawyers have high ethical standards is greater than it has been in more than two decades—21%. Interestingly, public opinion has improved at a time when fewer young people are deciding to become lawyers.



Lawyers say they’re still just trying to work out the rituals for celebrating the occasion. “There’s no right or wrong way” to observe Love Your Lawyer Day, says the Florida Bar’s Facebook page. “The basic idea of the day is to simply hold the lawyer jokes for 24 hours.”



The president of the American Bar Association, Paulette Brown, says she’s observing the day in New Orleans.



“Friday is also national Nacho Day and national Saxophone Day so sharing some nachos with a lawyer while listening to some Coltrane or Charlie Parker sounds like a good time,” she said.



Tom Bolt, an attorney in the U.S. Virgin Islands who runs the ABA division that adopted the resolution, said several clients asked him not entirely insincerely if it would be appropriate to bring him a bouquet on Friday. Mr. Bolt said he first heard about Love Your Lawyer Day this year and thought it could change people’s perception of lawyers. He got in touch with Nader Anise, an attorney turned marketing consultant in Florida who says he came up with the idea years ago after founding a group that preaches against lawyer bashing.



Mr. Anise says he founded his organization in 2000 after overhearing two attorneys at a bar association function crack a joke about lawyers. (It was a version of: Why did they stop making stamps featuring lawyers? People didn’t know which side to spit on.)



“That a Love Your Lawyer Day is even necessary speaks volumes to me,” said Darren McKinney, a spokesman for the American Tort Reform Association, a business-lobbying group in Washington, D.C. He said they’re fighting a reputation they’ve earned thanks to what he called “laughable” lawsuits. He mentioned the litigation over the length of Subway foot-long sandwiches as an example.



Mark Cuban, the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks, successfully fought off federal insider-trading charges with the help of lawyers. ENLARGE

Mark Cuban, the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks, successfully fought off federal insider-trading charges with the help of lawyers. PHOTO: MIKE BLAKE/REUTERS

Whether lawyers are worthy of love is a matter of perspective.



“I love every lawyer I have never had to pay or see,” said Mark Cuban, the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks who successfully fought off federal insider-trading charges with the help of lawyers. “I love all those lawyers that have worked for me and gotten paid by me as well. Just a little less.”



Mr. Bolt of the American Bar Association doesn’t think lawyers are asking for anything special. “Don’t we celebrate dental health week?” he said.



The week in February, once recognized by President Eisenhower, is more about getting children to brush than getting people to like dentists. Days honoring professions usually limit the emotion to appreciation, like the one for teachers.



“Clients love me by either saying thank you, sending a gift or paying their bills on time,” Mr. Tannebaum, said. “I don’t need a public display on the Internet.”

[pixy0stix]

I love the lawyers on this board. Is that enough?

[ESF]

I AM THE BEST.

[YeahSure]

I love my lawyer uncle. My daughter's lawyer FIL; not so much.

[josieposy]

Not like I need an excuse to post this shit, but I'm gonna anyway.

[starlily]

I love that this coincides with National Nacho Day.

I will happily accept nachos as a sign of love and appreciation!

[gpw]

Yeah, I won't be partaking in this holiday while at work.

[meshaliuknits]

So I need to buy ESF nachos is that what I'm hearing?

[alleinesein]

I'm dog/house sitting for my lawyer and giving her some of my Halloween candy tomorrow. That counts as love right??

[cville]

Fyi, I will be happily accepting all forms of gratitude. Major credit cards accepted.

[MrsAxilla]

Makes me wish I were a lawyer!

[sugarglider]

I, too, am accepting nachos and other expressions of affection.

[bernsteincat]

I'm sure my bosses are oblivious to this and I don't plan on bringing it to their attention.

[StrawberryBlondie]

Nov 6, 2015 1:03:24 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

Makes me wish I were a lawyer!

Legit LOL.

[gpw]

Nov 6, 2015 1:03:24 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

Makes me wish I were a lawyer!

Best.