RECOLLECTIONS
Joshua 4:7
"15 years-Can you come? We want to hear from someone who was there at the beginning." That brief call set me to wondering. "Had it really been 15 years?" "Who was there at the beginning?" "What were we trying to achieve?" "Who cares?" "What difference does it make?"
This brief reflection certainly isn't designed to answer all those questions, but is instead a commendation of the Legal Assistants Division for having and fostering a group memory. Organizations often spend considerable time, effort, and money engaging in long range planning, but just as often have little or no regard for rear view mirroring. Others reflect that social icon that best defines this age-the digital clock-no past, no future, only the present. Certainly no individual or group can advance if their only view is backward, but it is equally true that if one loses all landmarks, then she or he will certainly become lost. By knowing and remembering from whence you have come and where you have been, you can better appreciate where you are now and-like a good rower-chart a course into the future. Remember, the only view you have in a rowboat is toward the shore which you have left behind. The future shore lies unseen behind your back. Only the past is certain.
It was 1981 and the State Bar was soon to be involved in a dues referendum. The building finance referendum and Sunset were behind us. There was actually time to discuss issues other than finances and survival. Bob Towrey was full of enthusiasm about a group with which he had been working. They were loosely affiliated with a larger group which we knew by many names-paralegals, legal assistants, super secretaries, lawyer wannabes. They had become a fact of life in the legal profession, but the movement was amorphous and ill-defined. It had little or no form and no direction.
The State Bar of Texas had first dealt with the group because of education problems. A proprietary school was advertising that if students would attend, for a handsome fee, and complete the course of study, that lucrative jobs awaited all of them in the legal profession. The problem was that no one in the legal profession had yet been told about the glorious future or the wonderful salaries. The issue was simply truth in advertising. But, as a result of working out the problems surrounding that consumer fraud, Bob began to advance the cause of those early leaders who were beginning to make their presence felt and who, he contended, needed the guidance and assistance of the organized bar. He believed that the State Bar needed to help them so that they in turn could better help lawyers in their individual practice.
But questions abounded. How could the Bar do that? Should the Bar do that? Certainly we were doing the right thing by helping to stop a ripoff. But what did we owe beyond that and how could we regulate non-lawyers by imposing standards or testing or certification? Wouldn't that be restraint of trade? Why should lawyers have any restriction on whom they may hire to assist them? And some lawyers viewed this new profession as a threat to their business. Others were not willing to demote their Super Secretary to a lesser position in the office pecking order. Still others feared that by legitimizing the movement as a "profession," we were inviting competition and unauthorized practice of law.
The discussion took place over several months. Committee? Section? Nothing? Finally, an idea: Why not a Division? There was already a Law Student Division created during my first year as Executive Director. There was "precedent." That is a lawyerly way of viewing the issue. Those kids in law school aren't lawyers but most will be some day and they need to see the Bar as a positive force for good and not just as a money vacuum cleaner and cop. If we can invest time and effort in those not yet in the legal profession, why can't we work with those people who were already on law firm payrolls, who were already serving the clients under lawyer's directions and who were already affecting the way law was going to be practiced for the last two decades of the 20th Century? And in the process, maybe we could decide what to call them. They were simply too important to the future of the legal profession to be ignored.
The idea was circulated among the decision makers and Wayne Fisher, President-Elect of the State Bar, became its advocate. It was finally put on a State Bar Board agenda. The argument went about as expected-"good idea, bad timing"-"bad idea, regardless of timing"-"good idea, good timing." The latter won the day. Like most new ideas, it carried because there were dedicated people who had a dream that was larger than themselves and demanded time and commitment and persistence. They had a vision and a purpose and a desire to make things better and they didn't profess to have all the answers. The decision was made without all the answers being known. It was an act of faith that the leaders of the Division working with Bar advisors would make those decisions and answer those questions as they worked together to form and develop the Division. Standards. Education. Certification. Licensing. Scope of Practice. Unauthorized Practice. The answers would come as the issues were faced and debated.
My time in the State Bar ended as the Division was beginning. The last 15 years have been spent strictly in an interested observer's role. I have spent some time advising with a local university to allow its program to meet ABA guidelines and I know that the earliest problem of preventing rip-offs in education continues today. At first, it was just an owner-now it's the Great State of Texas with its curriculum mandates. There is always a dragon to slay-or tame.
And I know that not all the questions are answered-and that's to be expected. But at least the thing now has a name. And I for one am glad that it is not "para-legal." The thing also has an organization-the Legal Assistants Division of the State Bar of Texas, and it has national recognition for its existence, its excellence, and its positive effect on the practice of law.
So finally, let me salute you for taking time to pile up stones to make memorials to where you have been. Take the time also to memorialize the group legends. You need them as guideposts for the journey that lies ahead. Take the time to periodically pause to reflect and say thank you to those in your profession who have brought you to where you are today. They have laid the first stones.
TEXAS PARALEGAL JOURNAL
Fall 1996
©1996 Legal Assistants Division, State Bar of Texas