‘TIS THE SEASON OF GIVING
We all love receiving gifts, and many of us enjoy giving them.
You might think I am about to give you 400 words about the law of gifts, and that might happen next year, since I know something about it from teaching Trusts to law students – “is it a gift or a trust?” is a core question.
But instead, I am going to broaden the scope and talk about kindness. Yes, Virginia, I have heard all the lawyer jokes that compare lawyers to sharks. Despite this, I have often been accused of being kind, even generous, and the season of giving is a great opportunity to celebrate generosity.
Life can be hard, and folks involved in the adversarial end of the legal system often feel it intensely. “A law suit is not a tea party” is a famous saying among lawyers.
Despite this, our Rules of Professional Conduct remind us to practice civility. Maybe for Christmas I could wish that we didn’t need the reminder? Yes, life can be hard, but there is no reason to make it any harder than necessary. In fact, the lawyer in me wants to argue (or “submit” as we say in court) that the hardness of life is the reason that we should not make it any harder than necessary, whether every day or when involved in legal disputes.
We can vigorously pursue our clients’ objectives without being nasty, rude, or brutal. We might even wish that our clients seek vindication without being vindictive.
The Law of Trusts, after all, is based on equity, and equity in turn is all about fairness. The system of courts of equity grew up in antiquity in response to the rigidity – you might day hardness- of the rule of law. When equity itself lost sight of its goals, the courts were merged, but equity is still supposed to dominate.
In this season of giving, every year, I end up thinking a lot about The Gift of the Magi. It is a classic story of true love, but it is also a story about generosity of spirit being the greatest gift of them all.
On behalf of my friends and colleagues at Weilers Law, I want to wish you a safe and happy holiday season, but more than that I hope that in this holiday season, and year round, you share in plenty of kindness and generosity.