The Rarer Action: Collegiality

Bard of the Bar

Sep 24

Though with their high wrongs I am struck to                           th’quick,                                      
Yet with my nobler reason ‘gainst my fury
Do I take part. The rarer action is
In virtue than in vengeance.

- The Tempest, V,1; a dying Propero to Ariel

This scene between Prospero and Ariel in The Tempest moves me deeply. I just love the idea that here’s a man with a slew of enemies, all in his power, people who have betrayed him and banished him to an island in the sea - people he could destroy. But instead he forgives them.

The first definition of enemy in Black’s Law Dictionary is “one who opposes or inflicts injury on another; an antagonist.” By this definition, we jurists may, on any given case, find ourselves enemies at the bar. While thus opposed, we each have a duty to vigorously represent our clients’ interests against that of the others. As we apply our vigor against equally vigorous opposition in the fray, it makes sense that we might feel wounded, betrayed, resentful. If we lose, we might feel downright vengeful.

Hate the win, not the winner. We may be at temporary odds on many occasions. Over all occasions, we remain colleagues united by a shared responsibility for the great system of law that shields society from clan violence.

So when in oral argument, you refer to those trying to defeat you as “my respected colleague” or “my learned friend” – mean it. You will only understand Justice when you perceive your adversary as a necessary part of its totality.

Aristotle defined happiness as “an act of Soul in accordance with perfect virtue.” When we forgive our colleagues for giving us their professional best hard time, we accord with perfect virtue and might just experience – soulful vocational happiness. Virtue, not vengeance, will carry your career in successful directions.

If an opponent in a lawsuit, after the lawsuit is over, refers a case to you, it means you were a worthy opponent. It probably means they saw in you a true bearer of the civil torch. It makes me happy indeed to reflect on professional friendships forged in fearsome courtroom battles.

May we all meet on collegial fields and do as Shakespeare suggests: “Strive mightily, but eat and drink as friends.”