THE LAST WORD Are You a Novelist or Philosopher? Ayn Rand, founder of the objectivIt strikes me that, as attorneys, we ism philosophy she named, brought are much like the novelist Ayn Rand her views to life in traditional philosodescribes, even if we aren’t trying to phy writings and novels, including The become authors. Our novel as counselFountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. It is ors at law is embedded in the advice unusual to publish in two formats, and we give, how we prepare documents, when asked whether she was primarand how we develop a strategy for a ily a novelist or philosopher, she replied, court case. Naturally, we do so out of “Both.” our philosophical framework. This As she wrote in For the New Intellecraises a question: Are we aware of our tual, “In a certain sense, every novelist framework and its effect on how we is a philosopher because one cannot understand and counsel clients? present a picture of human existence As attorneys, we often bring a value without a philosophical framework; system, knowingly or unknowingly, the novelist’s only choice is whether into a meeting. We likely have a prethat framework is present in his story ferred approach to given situations explicitly or implicitly, whether he is —consciously or not. We inherently aware of it or not, whether he holds his bring this paradigm into the meeting, a philosophical convictions consciously prism through which we interpret the or subconsciously.” Ayn Rand, For the client’s facts and goals and render legal New Intellectual: The Philosophy of Ayn advice. Rand vii (Random House 1961). To be the best advisor possible, we Some attorneys have become very should know how our frameworks can successful authors; John Grisham and steer clients. Yet, therein lies the conunDavid Baldacci come to mind. In a drum. How do we use our experiences 2022 interview with the ABA Journal, and framework to advise clients withBaldacci recounts his departure from out distorting the client’s goals? The Big Law, having been in private practice answer may be a paradigm shift. in Washington, DC. See https://tinyurl. The late Stephen Covey wrote a woncom/49zem24z. He tells of countless derful depiction of a paradigm shift: questions from attorneys who want to I remember a mini-paradigm shift that follow his path and suggests they disI experienced one Sunday morning on a cern whether the story is law-themed subway in New York. People were sitting because it is compelling to them or quietly—some reading newspapers, some because it is a subject they know about. lost in thought, some resting with closed In the latter’s case, he suggests that eyes. It was a calm, peaceful scene. Then without a passion for the plot, their suddenly, a man and his children entered “creative fuel tank is going to be empty” the subway car. The children were so loud after about one hundred pages. and rambunctious that instantly, the whole climate changed. The man sat beside me and closed his eyes, oblivious to the situation. The chilThe Last Word Editor: Mark R. Parthemer, dren were yelling back and forth, throwing Glenmede, 222 Lakeview Avenue, Suite things, even grabbing people’s papers. It 1160, West Palm Beach, FL 33401, mark. was very disturbing. And yet, the man sitparthemer@glenmede.com. ting next to me did nothing.
It was difficult not to feel irritated. I could not believe he could be so insensitive to let his children run wild like that and do nothing about it, taking no responsibility. It was easy to see that everyone else on the subway felt irritated, too. So finally, with what I felt was unusual patience and restraint, I turned to him and said, “Sir, your children are disturbing a lot of people. I wonder if you couldn’t control them a little more?” The man lifted his gaze as if to come to a consciousness of the situation for the first time and said softly, “Oh, you’re right. I guess I should do something about it. We just came from the hospital where their mother died about an hour ago. I don’t know what to think, and I guess they don’t know how to handle it either.” Can you imagine what I felt at that moment? My paradigm shifted. Suddenly, I saw things differently… Stephen Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People 30 (New York: Fireside, 1989). The takeaway is that there may be times when we need to shift our perspective to focus on the fact that we may have a predisposition due to our philosophical framework. Doing so could allow us to pause and listen to the client fully before providing the novel that is our advice and legal opinion. This puts us in a position to be precise (and objective) in our expression. When we write a best-selling novel, insightful legal treatise, or advise clients, our framework is always present. In many ways, it enriches our wisdom and understanding; however, a failure to know our framework or a lack of awareness of its presence could diminish our effectiveness. So, be a novelist and a legal philosopher, but coupled with awareness and attention, your advice will be even more understandable.n
Published in Probate & Property, Volume 38, No 1 © 2024 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association.
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January/February 2024
