By Daniel B. Winslow
The little boy was about 6 years old, clutching a paintbrush as he "helped" with the lower portion of the paint job on the walls of the shelter where he lived with his mom.
He looked up at the CEO of an international manufacturing corporation, standing next to him, who had organized this community service project for his employees, and asked, "What do you do?"
The CEO, understandably proud of his accomplishments, began to rattle off all the attributes of a major corporate player. He was responsible for a large corporation with millions in annual sales, he oversaw thousands of employees, with manufacturing facilities spanning the world, and his company had launched cutting-edge product and governance innovations. Then he realized that he was going on a bit too much about himself. That wasn't the point of the afternoon. So he asked the boy, "What do you do?"
"I just work at getting better," came the reply.
That's the story as shared with me by the corporation's general counsel. And it's a story that could happen at any one of a growing number of companies that have embraced corporate citizenship. Not Sarbanes-Oxley or other measures that corporations must take to avoid running afoul of the law, but citizenship activities that promote the concept of doing well by doing good.
Companies that engage in citizenship activities report improved employee morale, better relationships with suppliers and enhanced community interactions. It's a concept that lawyers should embrace.
American Bar Association President Michael Greco agrees. Greco has called for a "renaissance of idealism in the legal profession — a recommitment to the noblest principles that define the profession; providing legal representation to the poor, disadvantaged and underprivileged; and performing public service that enhances the common good."
Sometimes amid the spate of lawyer jokes and law firm economics, we forget the history of leadership that lawyers have shown in our society. A report by the ABA Commission on the Renaissance of Idealism in the Legal Profession gives some examples:
In 1835, Alexis de Tocqueville observed that lawyers "assume[d] a responsibility for the common good through public life" and that we are particularly well suited to this role by our "training and cast of mind."
Louis Brandeis' 1905 speech on "The Opportunity in the Law" noted that "the paramount reason why the lawyer has played so large a part in our political life is that his training fits him especially to grapple with the questions which are presented in a democracy." He exhorted lawyers to advance the public interest through client counseling and engagement in reform activities.
Professor David Luban has written that our "unique combination of abstract reasoning ability and empirical keenness, coupled with the necessity of reaching conclusions in real time, perfectly suit lawyers for public life."
The pro bono ethical obligation, described in Supreme Judicial Court Rule 6.1, does not include community service or citizenship activities. While many law firms give billable hour credit for pro bono activities, there is no formal recognition in Massachusetts of the importance of citizenship activities. That makes it nearly impossible for associates to engage in community service, an associate of a Boston-based law firm was quick to point out to me when I raised the topic recently.
That's not a new concern. In 1986, according to the Renaissance Report, an ABA Commission investigated whether the rise in billable hours and the increasing commercialization of the legal practice was leading to a decline in public spiritedness. Even with credit for pro bono activities, the almighty billable hour consumes most of an associate's waking hours, with scant time for family and life outside the office. How can law firms possibly encourage lawyers to pursue civic engagement?
Unlike pro bono, where lawyers engage in the delivery of services particular to lawyers, citizenship creates an opportunity for networking with community and corporate providers of citizenship activities. If there's no room in the legal economy to include citizenship in the definition of pro bono, why not find another law firm time slot that fits? How about the marketing slot?
If law firms can't or don't engage in citizenship activities for altruistic reasons, just think of the marketing advantages that can be gained by jumping on the corporate citizenship band wagon. Forget about the brochures, breakfasts and business cards; just call the general counsel of a corporation that engages in citizenship activities and offer the volunteer services of your partners, associates and staff for their next citizenship project. Have your legal team work alongside their corporate team and get to know each other. Can you say "good will"?
Of course, a funny thing might happen on the way to this marketing of your law firm to the titans of corporate America. Once you infuse citizenship into the DNA of a law firm's culture, lawyers start to feel good about themselves. Want to make an immediate difference in a child's life? Put down the PDA and pick up a paintbrush. Just as corporate citizenship can be good for businesses, citizenship activities can be good for law firms and lawyers.
"Volunteering," according to the Renaissance Report, "makes a difference in achieving higher occupational prestige." For lawyers who chose a legal career in the hope of "making a difference," there is a strong correlation between professional satisfaction and engagement in community-oriented service activities.
The report concludes that "[b]y freeing up time for community service work, employers can improve job satisfaction and retention rates for the lawyers in whose recruitment and training they have made such a substantial investment."
Citizenship activities, perhaps, give all of us a chance to just work at getting better.
Daniel B. Winslow is a partner at the Boston office of Duane Morris and formerly served as a District Court judge and chief legal counsel to Gov. Mitt Romney. He has lectured and written on the topic of corporate citizenship. He can be reached at dbwinslow@duanemorris.com.
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February 6, 2006
