We are inundated with information in the 21st century - we have the whole world at our disposal on a laptop computer. We can visit the Louvre, view livecams from all over the world, do genealogy research, legal research, read newspapers and magazines from around the world in any language, find an answer (not necessarily the right answer or the best answer, but an answer) to virtually any question that we can ask by using a search engine. And each day more information comes on line. So why add to it?
Law is a communication field. In a law office, we don't need too much in the way of fixturing - a desk, some basic office machines and a couple of chairs will do. Our basic tools are our ability to read, write and analyze in a particular fashion. Our law school training teaches us to approach each problem and issue the same way - to take nothing at face value, to demand proof before forming any final opinions, to see all sides of a particular issue, and to analyze the relative strengths and weaknesses of those positions. We don't know which side is going to walk into our office and so we must be prepared to see a problem and the proposed resolution in the light that works most favorably for our clients. We are not "the deciders" - we are not the judges. Our job is not to dispense justice ourselves, but to be zealous advocates on behalf of our clients. We present their facts, their theories, their particular legal needs, in the most favorable light. A judge or a jury makes the decision whether someone who spills hot coffee on their lap is a victim or a fool. When I read about one of those sensational cases with an outcome that seems to turn common sense on its head, I wish I were in the courtroom to see what the lawyer may have said to convince twelve people on a jury of something which so many people are outraged about. I don't blame the lawyer for the result. He has done his job, played his part in the system, and he has been a very effective communicator and advocate for his client.
As communicators, lawyers must adopt the latest tools. I have been slow to the game of blogging. I was an internet dweeb in the early 1990's, when to get on (outside of academia) you used an internet provider such as Prodigy, or Compuserve. In those early days of the internet, there were an accepted set of rules, called "Netiquette" , that kept the conversation relatively civil. The occasional violators of the standards were "flamers" and when they engaged others, the result was a "flame war". But it was surprising how civil the communication was then. At least in my memory!
How life has changed. Now, much of what passes for public debate these days is composed principally of anger, emotion, half-truths and nonsense. There is no netiquette these days. If you have ever been to a dog park - a public space set aside to let dogs run free and play with each other - that is what I see in the field of public debate. Two packs of angry dogs hold sway, running back and forth across the field, protecting their turf, and ripping to pieces any dog from the other side that ventures too close. No moderate dogs need apply. While it is wonderful that so many people are now given a platform to voice their concerns, we now have to work on the quality of the debate.
And so that's where I come in. I am in the field of communications. My particular tools are supposed to be reading, writing and analyzing. Some people have different tools than I do, some have better tools, but I am ready to throw my thoughts in to the mix. My goal going in is to stick to my knitting and write about issues in my legal practice areas. I don't plan to take on the great public issues of the day. My goal is to be informative rather than opinionated. Time will tell whether I am successful. Will people read what I write? I am not that concerned about readership. I have been journaling for myself since junior high (back when there was a place called "junior high"), and so am used to writing for my eyes only. I find that be making myself write, I better organize my thoughts and come to better conclusions. And so I will continue to write for myself. If readers on occasion find it helpful, then that's icing on the cake.
Everything we post up on the internet is cataloged and saved ... somewhere ... and perhaps forever. Items from the past are now being added and cataloged and available to us today. I can read about the times when my ancestors were mentioned in the newspapers that are now online from the 19th and 20th centuries. I wish they had written more letters to the editor so I could learn a little more about them. Too often the only mention that I can find is when they died-a death notice. How will our descendants hundreds of years from now know that we existed, if we don't contribute our share?
And so to update Descartes for the 21st century: Blogito ergo sum. I blog, therefore I am.
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