Becoming a Main Street Lawyer

Becoming A Main Street Lawyer

A Quicktake:

Discover the journey of a lawyer, inspired by the iconic Atticus Finch, and the challenges faced in the legal profession. Despite facing doubts and ridicule about pursuing a legal career, the individual remains undeterred by negative comments. Becoming a Main Street lawyer is a learning experience.

Early Influences

When you mention an interest in becoming a lawyer, you receive an avalanche of advice:

“How can you represent those people?”
“Do you realize that most lawyers do not make that much money?”
“You are too nice to be a lawyer.”

You also get a touch of ridicule. “Oh, that’s what we need … more lawyers!” “What are you going to do, sue McDonald’s over hot coffee?”

Finding Inspiration

None of those comments ever bothered me. I had enough very financially successful relatives and mentors to see a path to earning money. Clearly, having sufficient money will make your life comfortable, but not necessarily fulfilled.

I had no idea whether my journey would take me to a big city law firm, taking up an in-house counsel role, or work as a Main Street lawyer. I suffered the image of lawyers cut from the cloth of Atticus Finch from Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Atticus Finch was portrayed in the movie version of this brilliant work of art by Gregory Peck.

The Ideal of Atticus Finch

Peck’s riveting courtroom performance defending a black man, Tom Robinson, is the pinnacle of greatness to which all lawyers should attempt to achieve. Among the many powerful messages, the following quote from Finch’s closing argument sums up the aspirations of the promise of America and the role of our courts:

“But there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein, and the ignorant man the equal of any college president. That institution, gentlemen, is a court. It can be the Supreme Court of the United States or the humblest JP court in the land, or this honorable court which you serve. Our courts have their faults as does any human institution, but in this country, our courts are the great levelers, and in our courts, all men are created equal.”

Real-World Experience

On pure idealism, Atticus Finch is a lawyer’s lawyer. People, cases, and courts are messy. I found out about this working in the environmental cleanup business during college and through Law School, talk about messy. The people want clean air and clean water. Business wants to operate unfettered by regulation. Regulators want to enforce their rules. Insurance companies want to push responsibility for environmental claims to “the other guy.”

The Legal Learning Curve

As a humble project supervisor, my work would start and stop based upon the opaque direction of “the lawyers.” I had only a vague idea of what was happening behind the scenes. Getting the job done would complete a project for the client, resolve an environmental remediation hazard, and get my employer paid. It seemed these lawyers’ goals were quite different from everyone else. The impact of “the lawyers” on our work left me both frustrated and curious.

Curiosity and Law School

That curiosity burned in me during my years cleaning up Superfund sites, underground storage tank leaks, hazardous waste spills at the airport, military bases, and industrial facilities. Frankly, I saw no way to get to the bottom of it without going to law school.

Along the journey of four years of so-called “night” school, I learned that Atticus Finch had it exactly right. You are always fighting: The other side, the court staff, and even your own clients. However, the path to getting a case in front of the court, “the Great Leveler” Finch talked about, was even messier than fighting with faceless lawyers blocking my crew from completing an environmental cleanup.

Skills for a Main Street Lawyer

I learned that our job as lawyers, especially Main Street lawyers or country lawyers, requires a vast mixture of skills. Certainly, knowledge of the law and issue spotting is essential. Beyond that, the traits of listening, finding pain points for both your side and the other side, and fighting honorably and with empathy is the key to progressing toward the ideal modeled by Atticus Finch.

Striving for the Ideal

As to achieving that ideal as a Main Street Lawyer, it remains a work in progress. As to what kind of lawyer I would become, the answer has been clear for decades.

Every year I consult with over 500 potential new clients. I listen, spot issues, and give away tons of advice – with pleasure and for free. I can accept only 10% as clients. The rest, I guide, counsel, refer, or give one of our books as a gift via Amazon. I may never evolve into a full-fledged Atticus Finch, but I will never quit trying.

Conclusion

As a Main Street lawyer, you meet a lot of real people with real problems to solve.

Thanks to Horn Law Group, LLC intern Noah Hilsdorf.