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For Houston criminal
defense lawyer Sam Guiberson, the act of putting yourself out on another's
behalf has a way of transmuting what would otherwise be mundane legal work
into something very special. "The opportunity to turn the dross
of routine law practice into something that reinforces your humanity is
what you wait for," says Guiberson. "And this
profession gives you that opportunity if you're strong enough within to
recognize it when it's upon you and then take it. In that commitment
of self, you find the true reward for what we do."
Some years ago, Guiberson
volunteered to help with the defense of environmentalist Dave Foreman,
whose "eco-terrorism" trial ultimately ended in a plea
bargain. Five years later, only weeks after the court allowed
Foreman's felony plea to be withdrawn for a misdemeanor offense, Foreman
invited Guiberson and his wife and son to his fiftieth birthday
party. There, in front of a gathering of some of the country's most
renowned environmentalists, Foreman thanked Guiberson for the help he'd
given him. "Instead of applause, Dave's friends and colleagues
responded with an ovation of wolf howls," Guiberson recalls.
"Despite all the
frustration, conflicts, and near financial ruin my volunteer efforts had
brought my way, Dave's gratitude, the appreciation of his friends to whom
he means so much, and the knowledge that I had helped this environmental
advocate continue his work amounted to a moving testimonial for me to the
truth that when we give of ourselves, we really help ourselves. When
I wonder whether my work has made any difference to anyone, I just return
to that remembrance of a criminal defense lawyer being serenaded by
wolves."
133
Today's lawyers, being
overwhelmingly inclined to minimize the importance of their inner
experience, are more apt to see personal enrichment as their purpose, at
least in their professional lives. They miss out on the opportunity
that Guiberson talks about, to turn the dross of routine legal practice
into something that reinforces their humanity ("the true reward for
what we do").
213
. . . some of lawyers'
current functions will become commoditized, . . . It's inevitable,
and when it happens, lawyers will sink or swim depending on what they can
bring to a client that the client can't find with a mouse--in a word,
wisdom.
Criminal defense lawyer Sam
Guiberson has given this a lot of thought. "Look around
you," he says. "How much of what you do is becoming
available in the enriched information and communications environment we
live in? If what you sell becomes a devalued coin, you can't trade
in products; you have to trade in essences. No guild can
survive when its craft is ubiquitous. The only one that will survive
is the one that has a sense of the value of values, the value of
essences."
