This powerful oration is the last of many memorable ones that my esteemed colleague Wil Fluegel gave as President of the MTLA. Please read these words of resonance, wisdom, and true patriotism.

August 11, 2006

I’d like to begin by thanking each one of you for your efforts during this past year and my thanks especially to my Executive Committee and Board of Governor members for their substantial contributions.Finally, my thanks once again to each of our staff members for helping make our jobs easy. In looking back on my year as President, I was reflecting about what life lesson I may have learned. I could say it was something like: saving money is easier if your parents do it for you. But truthfully, I’ve learned just a bit more than that. Fundamentally I’ve come to understand that: sometimes the things that may or may not be true, are the things a person needs to believe in the most.[1] Things like: people are basically good; that honor, courage and virtue mean everything; that good always triumphs over evil. It doesn’t matter if they are true or not; because people should believe in these things simply because they are the things worth believing.

As trial lawyers we are uniquely fitted to defend those beliefs, because we are the champions of good and historically we have exercised the courage to honor virtue and support the rights of common man. We have worked to fashion a justice system that assures people that if they ever need it, government - - through the authority of the courts - - will ensure that they are fairly treated by moral decision-makers who will respect their individuality, but enforce their responsibilities to one another.[2] Our laws and indeed our Constitution, exist to protect the weak from the strong and the minority from the majority. The power of brute force is tempered by the constraints of laws that restrict the unbridled exercise of excess by the “haves” against the “have nots.” A society is stronger not just when the gap between those two extremes is less wide, but when those who have, devote themselves to assuring the safety and well-being of those who don’t. Historic contrasts demonstrate the strength of the American justice system.[3] As a servant in Roman times, you knew you’d spend your life forced to build someone else’s Empire. As a peasant in 11th Century China, you knew that no matter how hard you worked, a local warlord could come and take it all away. As a subject of King George III, you knew that your freedom of worship, of speech, and of your right to build a life of your own, were ultimately limited by the power of the throne.

Then America happened. Here, we live in a place where destiny doesn’t determine destination. Here, the deference we are due is dictated by our deeds and not decided by another. And the world watched. And many thought to copy us. Others merely envied us. America is not perfect. We’ve made our mistakes. We’ve had our excesses and at times even our humiliations. Envy and anger can also breed powerful enemies, and the bigger we’ve become, the further is our possible fall.

Yet despite our own discord and disagreement,America has always rallied together, mobilized its home front and turned itself full bore to oppose any threat to our ideals or our people. We’ve preserved our principles even when we have had principled disagreements, because the right to self-determination is only possible in a society that grants the liberty to each of us to disagree respectfully with one another. In his book, The World is Flat, Tom Friedman has observed that in recent decades technology and globalization have combined as never before to break down barriers in the world economy and expand the opportunities that American’s alone principally enjoyed.

Now business not only has the ability to move jobs wherever there is a factory, but wherever there is an internet connection.[4] As Prime Minister Tony Blair has noted “Talent is the 21st Century wealth.” Countries that have realized this, have expanded their education systems. China is graduating four times the number of engineers that America is. India is competing with us for skilled, educated workers, and America has been slow to acknowledge the challenge, let alone to meet it.

But yet, as Americans we still have reasons to remain optimistic. We have always met challenges and we have the means readily at our disposal. As lawyers, we are leaders. We can continue to shape social change to improve on the ideal that is America. Remember the caution of John F.Kennedy that “the great enemy of truth is very often not the lie … but the myth does.”[5] It is our task as advocates to assure that the true America - - one that treats each citizen with dignity, preserves each person’s safety and instills each American with hope - - is preserved and prospers. We accomplish that with our words and deeds. We must continue to strive to dispel the myths that would act to limit the potential of our people. Where big business suggests that truth is irrelevant or safety immaterial, we must block them. Where government itself places expedience over efficacy, we must correct it. Where insurance places profit over people, we must prove them wrong. As talent has become the wealth of this century, then we must prosper our resources by redoubling our efforts to nurture the talent of each member of our organization.

Pulitzer Prize winning professor Jared Diamond in book - - Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed - - posits several factors as responsible for why some nations thrive and others die off. They include(1) how well you care for the resources you are given, (2) what the strength of your enemies is, and (3) the reliability of your partners.[6] Our culture at MTLA I believe encourages us to preserve the advantages granted us and those whom we represent: the constitutional right to trial by jury, the inherent right to maintain our property and personal well-being, and to seek just compensation ifthey are taken wrongfully from us.

Our culture at MTLA advances the education of our selves and our members to find the legitimate weaknesses in our opponent’s efforts and to exploit them for the benefit of the common citizens whom we represent. Our culture at MTLA perpetuates our efforts to develop ever stronger and reliable partners in the pursuit of justice - - from legislative representatives to courtroom colleagues and beyond, we have made and continue to nurture new allies. This is a strong, vibrant and vital organization, and it will persevere. I have been very proud to stand at the front of your line for a year. Thank you so much for that great privilege. It has been an honor to have led you. Thank you and good luck.

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References [1] Coming of Age Speech, Second Hand Lions (2003). [2] Importance of Leadership, MTLA Trial Magazine (Summer 2006). [3] Sen. Barack Obama, June 4, 2005, Knox College Commencement [4] Tom Friedman, The World is Flat (2005). [5] JFK Yale Commencement, June 11, 1962. [6] Jared Diamond, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (2004).