Musmanno Award Acceptance Speech

There is really no way to make a speech after that introduction, but I'll try.

I'm glad that Jerry Litvin mentioned Jesuit education because in being trained by Jesuits, you are taught when you approach an event like this to try to find the meaning in it, and to reflect on where you've been and what are the values of your life.  That's what I wanted to do tonight and do it in a community where we have done a lot together.  And done a lot together, side-by- side against long odds.  And done a lot together, because we believe in certain values.  As is my want, I actually looked at the Bible, and came up with a concept that fittingly is in the Old Testament as well as the New, and that is the notion that to a person to whom much is given, then much is expected.  And the more that is given, then the more is expected.  And what I would like to talk about tonight is all that I've been given; but then talk about what's been given to us as lawyers, and more specifically trial lawyers, and what I think is expected of us.

{Deleted remarks thanking members of firm and family}.

I'd like to spend a few minutes and talk about what has been given to us as lawyers, as trial lawyers, and what as a result I think is expected of us in return.  Stop and think for a moment of the incredible power and tools that are given to anyone who holds a license to practice law.  We have the right, essentially, to sit in judgment of others, to evaluate what they do, and to file a lawsuit.  To presume to say that we are going to impose a certain standard.  We have the right by filing interrogatories and requests for production of documents to delve into other people's lives.  We have the right to summon people by subpoena and have them give us information.  We actually conscript our fellow citizens when we empanel them as a jury, and say come and sit and hear this dispute.  And we go to the courts, and we say give us time, and resources, and give us the ability to be heard.  That is just a remarkable gift that we are given as lawyers.  To make a difference, and to do something that can be very constructive.

Beyond what we're able to do for our individual clients, we have, maybe by default, become an institutional voice in American society.  And it's a voice that is very important in so many areas, whether its in the media, or in the legislature or in the courts because we are really the only organized group, with the exception of labor, and many of our friends from labor are here tonight, who can speak for categories of people who would otherwise not have a voice.  Whether they are victims of defective products; whether they are victims of malpractice; whether they are victims of official governmental misconduct, we become an institutional voice that says, look at these people.  Look at their needs.  Look at the issues.  And as such, what we have is an incredible role to play. 

Think as well of the freedom that we're given, particularly as trial lawyers.  We are given the freedom to choose what cases we will bring.  We are given the freedom to choose how we will litigate those cases.  We are given the freedom from billable hours, and the chance to do so many things if we take our time and put it to constructive use.  We're given resources and financial freedom that we can bring to bear on so many issues.  And so, what I say, is that much has been given to us as lawyers, but indeed, much has been given to us as trial lawyers.  And it's for that reason that I think much is expected of us as trial lawyers.

Now, by definition, what we do is always going to be controversial.  Because we are an irritant in our society.  We are the folks who are always going to be there to say "stop, wait a minute," this individual over here counts.  And a corporation may want to make a profit in a certain way, but we exist to remind them that there's somebody out there working and living and taking care of a family, and they must think of them.

As criminal lawyers, we're the ones that stop, and think about the rights of individuals.  When I read now about what's happening down in Maryland, and think about those lawyers who have been asked to represent the snipers,  and I think about the controversy they're going to spark, and the role they're going to play, I say, that's an incredibly valuable and difficult thing that they do. 

So when people criticize us, and when people say that we do not add value in society, that doesn't bother me, because if you look over the years, there are so many things that we have been able to accomplish, whether it be Marty Greitzer and asbestos, whether it be Arthur Raynes amd Thalidomide, all the many things that we've done over the years that make a difference.  We should not shy away from that controversy.  And we should not shy away from trying to enter into all of those frays because that's what we are meant to do.  And I say to you tonight, that I am proud to be a trial lawyer.

Now at the same time, I should point out that a good lawyer will always recognize the weaknesses in his or her case.  I think all of us here tonight know that we as a profession, but trial lawyers in particular,  as one part of that profession, are under unprecedented attack.  And I think we know that as we move forward, what we do and what we stand for, will become less appreciated in the public mainstream.

The criticisms of those who don't understand and appreciate what we do, or would rather that we not be there because we are a voice for the oppressed, those criticisms don't bother me.  But there are criticisms we hear that do bother me.  Criticisms that have a sting.  Criticisms suggesting that perhaps we are not what we should be.  Every time we push the envelope and make an argument we shouldn't make; every time somebody files a frivolous or a silly case; every time we forget that what we are about is clients and not fees; every time we err in one way or another, and we' re all guilty of this to a greater or lesser extent, not only are we failing to do our job in a particular case, but more importantly, we're undermining the common law system.  Because the enemies of our justice system are out there -  they're waiting, and they're pointing fingers.  Every time I go to Harrisburg, I'll hear about bad lawyering.  And so I would suggest that for all we have accomplished, and for all we have done, we need to do more. 

One reason we need to do more is that, as trial lawyers, we actually profess to stand for something.  Law is not a business, it is a profession, and as such, it's meant to stand for certain values.  But we particularly as trial lawyers profess that we stand for equal justice under law.  We profess that we stand for the rights of the underdog.  We profess that what we do in a courtroom is justice.  And so, when you think about it, we are holding ourselves to a very high standard.  So it's to be expected, I think, that those who want to put us out of business and those who are our enemies will hold us to that same standard, and will always be comparing what we say with what it is that we do.  In my life, one of the things that I have looked at is if we really believe these things, then what do we do?  I must confess that there are times, as a trial lawyer, where I have doubts about our rhetoric.  Sometimes I think we promise more than we deliver.   And sometimes when we get together and we're congratulating ourselves, as I was congratulated tonight, I think it's important for us to remember that for all the good we do, let's face it, we are very well protected.  We are very well rewarded, and what we have really is an abundance.

While we claim the mantle of Justice Musmanno, I think there are other people who can lay far better claim to it.  And some of them are here tonight.  As I look around the room, Cathy Carr is here, my neighbor and classmate; director of Community Legal Services; a graduate of Penn; went to Yale undergrad.  Federal law clerk, Law Review, and has yet, in her distinguished career, to make more than a first-year associate at a large firm in Philadelphia. 

I see Lauren Townsend here.  Lauren Townsend is the Executive Director of Citizens for Consumer Justice.  And believe me, she has her finger on every issue of individual consumer rights in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.  And yet, there are days when Lauren, working for a non profit, goes without a paycheck. 

Mark Schwartz is here.  He's the Director of Regional Housing Legal Services, and has done simply incredible things in the State of Pennsylvania to bring in federal money, to make sure there's housing for the poor, working with Sister Mary Scullion, to build houses for the homeless.  And yet Mark will never get a percentage out of all of the good things that he does.

We are champions of patient rights, and yet, at our best, I think what we do pales in comparison to Anne Torregrossa, Director of the Pennsylvania Health Law Project, who does more, I think, for patients and individuals than any of us do with the best case we have ever brought.

And then, we have my friend, Tom Foley, another Yale Law School graduate who's given his entire career to public service, and now is Director of United Way of Pennsylvania.

Considering their example, what I would say to us as a community of trial lawyers is this:  What we stand for is noble.  What we have done is good.  But what we have is a remarkable opportunity to do even more.  I think the individuals I've named tonight can truly lay claim to the legacy of Justice Michael Musmanno.  I think for the rest of us, with apologies to Tom Hanks, and his theme from "Saving Private Ryan,"  we have to earn it, by what we do for our clients every day. 

And so, it is with a real sense of gratitude for what's been given to me by wonderful mentors, and a great institution and good friends, and also a family that has stood by me.  Because whenever I talk about "truth and justice," my wife, Maureen and my children say yes, but are you doing enough?  And are you keeping your eye on the ball? 

What I would ask is that as we go forward and we prepare for what are difficult times ahead, we make sure that we say matches what we do, for only then can we truly claim this legacy of the Justice.

Thank you very much.