Lives less ordinary

At The American Lawyer Awards they hand out no fewer than eight lifetime achievement gongs. But it doesn’t feel like overkill when you learn what the recipients have got up to during their long – and I mean long – careers.

To focus on just three of this year’s achievers: former Secretary of State James Baker, of Baker Botts, needs no introduction; Morrison & Foerster’s Shirley Hufstedler was, among other things, the first US Secretary of Education; while Thomas Sullivan of Jenner & Block has a string of pro bono credits to his name, including the arguing of a death penalty case before the Supreme Court that led to the reversal of more than 350 death penalty sentences.

All eight lifetime achievers work out of leading commercial firms, yet all have contributed to US society in other important ways. The awards underline the strength of the links between business lawyers and public life in the US. There are a number of reasons for this. First, litigation lies at the heart of US culture, placing lawyers closer to the centre of gravity in both the business and the political world. Second, there has always been a glaring need for successful business lawyers to represent the poor, who would otherwise go unrepresented. Perhaps too, the more individualistic culture within many US firms makes it possible for lawyers to devote time to pro bono and other activities without attracting resentment from their colleagues.

It is a different story in the UK. For a start the concept of doing pro bono work still attracts controversy, or at least it does whenever attempts are made to put it on a more formal footing, by, for example, setting pro bono targets for law firms.

In the past many lawyers on the liberal wing of the profession have regarded it with suspicion on the basis that it gives the Government an excuse to absolve itself of its moral responsibility to provide legal representation to the poor. Recent years have seen civil legal aid cut to the bone, but you still don’t hear of the appalling miscarriages of justice that regularly seem to afflict ‘indigent’ defendants accused of capital offences in the US.

While pro bono activity in the UK has stepped up in recent years, it is likely to remain a relatively low-key affair.

As for the involvement of senior business lawyers in public life, there is certainly a feeling within the profession that its senior representatives should receive a higher profile. Allen & Overy’s senior partner, Guy Beringer, who recently sat on a legal aid taskforce, is one to have publicly articulated the belief that lawyers should get more involved. Legal Village blogger Bill Knight, who wants retired partners to become active in the wider business community, is another.

But the ever-increasing demands being made on senior business lawyers - whether they be practising law or managing firms - are surely making it even less easy for them to broaden their horizons.

Indeed, at last week’s The American Lawyer Awards in New York, editor-in-chief Aric Press wondered out loud whether a new generation of lifetime achievers would replace those currently taking a bow. It will have struck a chord with many people in the room, especially at a time when centrally-managed, transaction-focused firms from this side of the pond are getting so much attention.

john.malpas@legalweek.com