Morguson County
Family Attorneys’ Pledge of Cooperation
Introduction
For over a year several of our attorneys worked on a statement of their felt obligation to cooperation in their work in family cases. Many contributed considerable time writing, commenting on, and improving earlier drafts of this Pledge. The values, work, and final pledge of these attorneys reflect the growing number of American lawyers wanting a system of family law responsive to the true needs of their family clients and in closer keeping with the historical role of the law as an instrument of problem-solving.
Among other things, they drew on the wisdom of legal authorities such as the following in considering a possible Family Attorneys’ Pledge of Cooperation.
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“Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser—in fees, expenses, and waste of time. As a peacemaker the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being a good man.” —Abraham Lincoln, Lecture notes, July 1, 1850
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“My joy was boundless. I had learnt the true practice of law. I had learnt to find out the better side of human nature. . . . I realized the true function of a lawyer was to unite parties driven asunder. The lesson was so indelibly burnt into me that a large part of my time during the twenty years of my practice as a lawyer was occupied in bringing about private compromises of hundreds of cases. I lost nothing thereby—not even money, certainly not my soul.” Mahatma Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments With the Truth
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“This healing function ought to be the primary role of the lawyer in the highest conception of our profession.” Chief Justice Warren Burger
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“As a representative of clients, a lawyer performs various functions. As advisor, a lawyer provides a client with an informed understanding of the client’s legal rights and obligations and explains their practical implications. . . . As intermediary between clients, a lawyer seeks to reconcile their divergent interests as an advisor and, to a limited extent, as a spokesperson for each client.” Preamble to Model Rules of Professional Conduct.
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“As a public citizen, a lawyer should seek improvement of the law . . . and the quality of service rendered by the legal profession. . . . A lawyer should be mindful of deficiencies in the administration of justice. . . . A lawyer . . . should help the bar regulate itself in the public interest.” Id.
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“The legal profession is largely self-governing. . . . The legal profession’s relative autonomy carries with it special responsibilities of self-government. The profession has a responsibility to assure that its regulations are conceived in the public interest and not in furtherance of parochial or self-interested concerns of the bar.” Id.
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“Lawyers have an opportunity to provide healing and support when people are hurting. To be able to enter into people's lives in a terrible time of need and to provide them with hope and support—to find them a path to bring some good out of that bad—is a wonderful thing for lawyers to be able to do.” Janine Geske, Former Justice, Wisconsin Supreme Court
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“The entire legal profession . . . has become so mesmerized with the stimulation of the courtroom contest, that we tend to forget that we ought to be healers of conflict. . . . Trial by adversarial contest must in time go the way of the ancient trial by battle and blood. . . . Our system has become too costly, too painful, too destructive, too inefficient for truly civilized people.” Chief Justice Warren Burger, 1984
We are exceptionally pleased to share the following Pledge resulting from those efforts.
Judges, Morguson County
Morguson County
Family Attorneys’ Pledge of Cooperation
Recognizing that families involved in divorce and other legal cases will be served best by solutions that build cooperation and protect children, the undersigned attorneys pledge as follows.
As family attorneys we will constantly test the propriety of our words and advocacy by whether they can be expected to serve the healthy and child- focused cooperation of parents and other family members. We will educate our clients that in most cases family members will either win together or lose together and that success must usually be gauged by achieving solutions serving the best interests of all family members.
We will ensure that our clients fully understand their legal duty and personal interest in observing the letter and spirit of all court orders.
Knowing that clients will often follow our lead, we will consistently practice and model courtesy with all persons, including clients and other parties, family members, courts, and fellow counsel.
We will work cooperatively with our colleagues and the courts. On request, we will voluntarily trade all relevant and discoverable information in our cases. We will accommodate procedural requests that do no harm to our clients’ best interests. We will not mislead any court, party, or attorney.
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We will work cooperatively with our colleagues and the courts to assure the safety of all family members. If there has been any history or threat of violence or abuse against any family member, we will:
Consult with fellow counsel to find the best ways to protect all family members, including any children who may have suffered or witnessed any violence or abuse.
Counsel clients on their duty to observe the letter and spirit of all court orders and on the benefits of seeking useful counseling.
Except in cases of dangerous relationships, we will discuss with all prospective divorce clients any interest they may have in saving their marriages and the advantages and disadvantages of attempting to do so.
We will educate our clients that parent conflict can be gravely dangerous to children and that parents can often serve their own best interests by building cooperation for the sake of their children.
We will constantly keep in mind our responsibility to the future co-parenting relationship being formed and affected by our processes, as that co-parenting relationship will be chiefly responsible for children’s and families’ wellbeing into the future.
We will constantly remind ourselves and our clients that almost always the only way to achieve a good result in dissolution is to work for a good result for every family member.
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Because litigation can damage relationships and polarize family members, we will make every reasonable effort to avoid unnecessary filings, custody evaluations, hearings, and trials, including by:
Whenever possible, consulting with fellow counsel to attempt cooperative resolutions before filing pleadings or scheduling hearings.
Refraining from taking any nonlegal matters to court, including any matters better served by courteous discussion, counseling, or mediation rather than a legal ruling.
Educating our clients that while parents’ cooperation can build better alternatives, a judge can merely pick from the poor alternatives available in the midst of parent conflict and that judicial decisions are not a substitute for parent cooperation.
We will refer our clients to counseling, mediation, or other assistance we believe could help them improve their relationships and the healthy functioning of their families.
We will work in our cases, in our professional associations, and in our public statements to develop a culture of cooperation in all family cases. We will give a copy of this Pledge to (and discuss it with) all clients in dissolution and paternity cases and in any other cases involving conflict between family members. We will educate the public, fellow counsel, and professionals from other fields about the urgency of, and many opportunities for, cooperative problem-solving in family cases.
Click Here to see the latest list of attorneys making this pledge.