Canadian Lawyer

16 A u g u s t 2 0 1 4 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m by PhiliP Slayton LEgaL EthiCs a dam Liptak is the U.S. Supreme Court corre- spondent for The New York Times and also writes "Sidebar," a fre- quent column about developments in the law. Liptak is a graduate of Yale Law School. He worked in a Wall Street law firm for four years, and then moved to the Times legal department before becoming a legal journalist. He's a smart man. In May, Liptak was given an hon- ourary doctorate by Florida's Stetson University and gave the commencement address. Liptak told the new graduates, "Don't make it all about the money." He riffed on this theme. "Don't get used to the money," he said. "Life is not a purely economic matter. . . . Make a difference rather than a buck." Liptak points out if you make it all about the money, you won't be able to accept your dream job when it's offered. You won't be able to follow your heart. Dream jobs, in government, public ser- vice, journalism, or education, generally come with pay cuts. He urges: "Don't find yourself in this position: You are terribly unhappy in your work (and a lot of lawyers are). You want to make a change, but you are locked into a mortgage and lifestyle that will not allow you to do something else, something that brings you satisfac- tion, if not joy, and something that makes the world a better place." Liptak has walked the walk. When he went from Wall Street to the Times legal department, he took a pay cut. When he went from the legal department to being a reporter, he took another. But being a reporter for the Times was his dream job. He followed his heart. "As a purely economic matter, I suppose I made stupid choices," he says. "But life is not purely an economic matter." Liptak was happy to leave Wall Street, although he admits he learned a lot there and was surrounded by very smart people. He is not an admirer of big firm culture. Law firms, he argues, are built on two crippling ethical tensions. One is hourly billing: "It leads to punishing work sched- ules, unhappy lawyers, ill-served clients, over-lawyered cases, perverse incentives, and outright fraud." The other ethical ten- sion is created by the adversarial system: better lawyers get better results, and this can easily lead to injustice. When he was on Wall Street, Liptak says, "We spared no expense. We scorched the earth. It was exciting." Anyone who has worked in a big firm Watch Liptak's address at youtube.com/watch?v=En5MKCjHvqc, or read a summary in the Harvard Crimson at thecrimson.com/article/2014/5/29/please-calculate-badly. duShaN milic Don't make it all about money It's extraordinary what a clever lawyer will endure, the opportunities he will forego, for marginal salary increases.

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