THREE EXAMPLES OF GREAT AMERICANS FOLLOWING THE CODE

    If there is any truism about being a trial lawyer is that each of us consciously or subconsciously have fears that sometimes prevent or hinder us from being our best.  Fear can strike the most brave.  Exactly how the person deals with the fear is what often makes the difference between the success or failure of the task at hand and the success the person has in life.

Rutherford B. Hayes, Col. William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody and Gerry Spence provide three interesting and teaching examples of recognition of fear, facing the fear and mustering the courage to overcome it.

1.    Rutherford B. Hayes

    Rutherford B. Hayes became President of the United States in 1876.  He was a trial lawyer.  At age 38, in 1861, he marched off to the Civil War as a Union solider.  President Hayes fought in the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, which was the bloodiest single day of war for Americans.  On that day, over 25,000 soldiers were either killed, wounded or never found again.  For Hayes, he found his comrades being shot to his left, to his right, in front of him and behind him.  Hundreds of his men fell near him all day as the battle raged on and Hayes himself was wounded.  Interestingly, President Hayes wrote in his memoirs that his fear in battle was that "my actual feeling was very similar to what I have when going into an important trial - not different or more intense."  

2. William Frederick Cody

William Frederick Cody, hunter, scout and guide, was a living legend of the out West.  He became known to Americans and to the world as "Buffalo Bill."  Indeed, in the 1900's in Europe, he was the foremost recognized American in the world.  Cody was clearly a hero's hero.  He's one of five civilians to win the Congressional Medal of Honor.  No one who has read about his exploits could ever say he was not a courageous man.  Cody, however, has a lesson for the trial lawyer in that he understood fear and acknowledged it in his autobiography, Buffalo Bill ..

His fame was such that Broadway even produced a play about him entitled Buffalo Bill - the King of the Border Men .  Here it should be recognized that most of Cody's life experiences in his first 30 years involved trying to survive in the West against the elements, robbers, hostile Indians and the Civil War and yet he braved them all.  It was not until he came to New York on business that he experienced the greatest fear in his life when he attended the play about himself.  In his autobiography, Cody writes:

"The audience, upon learning that the real 'Buffalo Bill' was present, gave several cheers between the acts, and I was called on to come out on the stage and make a speech.  Mr. Freleigh, the manager, insisted that I should comply with the request, and that I should be introduced to Mr. Studley.  I finally consented, and the next moment I found myself standing behind the footlights and in front of an audience for the first time in my life.  I looked up, then down, then on each side, and everywhere I saw a sea of human faces, and thousands of eyes all staring at me.  I confess that I felt very much embarrassed - never more so in my life - and I new not what to say.  I made a desperate effort, and a few words escaped me, but what they were I could not for the life of me tell, nor could any one else in the house.  My utterances were inaudible even to the leader of the orchestra, Mr. Dean, who was sitting only a few feet in front of me.  Bowing to the audience, I beat a hasty retreat into one of the cañons of the stage.  I never felt more relieved in my life than when I got out of the view of that immense crowd."

3. Gerry Spence

Gerry Spence is a lawyer's lawyer.  He is also a patriot.  More importantly, he is a warm human being and a great teacher.  In his book How to Argue and Win Every Time , Gerry writes of his representation of Randy Weaver, who was charged with the murder of a United States Marshal.  Gerry speaks of the fear that he had in that case just as he has had fear in each of his cases.  Describing his final argument, Gerry says the Assistant U.S. Attorney had just concluded his summation and:

"I heard the judge speak those fateful words I had longed for, and dreaded.  'Mr. Spence, you may begin your argument.'  I glanced quickly at the jury.  They were watching me as I walked toward them, waiting to hear me, waiting to judge me.  Could I answer the U.S. attorney?  Would the jury believe me?  Would I measure up?  I felt like running.  Trapped, I, like the lion felt like charging.  My heart was racing.  I was afraid.  God Almighty, I am always so afraid! (Emphasis added).

"Then I looked down at my feet and I tried to feel where the fear actually lay.  There it was, where I always found it, pressing at my ribs on each side, up high.  I looked up at the jury.  'Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,' I began.   'I wish I weren't so afraid,' I heard myself saying.  'I wish after all these years in the courtroom I didn't feel this way.  You'd think I would get over it.'

"Some of the jurors looked astounded.  Here was this lawyer who had fearlessly guided the defendant's case through the cross-examination of over half a hundred mostly hostile witnesses - the FBI, the marshals, the experts.  Here was this man who seemed always able to prevail now confessing his fear.  They watched.  They waited.  Their tentacles were out - feeling, probing.

"'I'm afraid I won't be able to make the kind or argument to you that Randy Weaver deserves,' I said.  'After nearly three months of trial, I'm afraid I won't measure up.  I wish I were a better lawyer.'  As always, the fear began to slink away and the argument began to take its place, one that was to consume nearly three hours.  It was an argument that was honest, and angry and humorous, one that was punctuated with defects and false starts and syntax that would horrify any self-respecting English professor.  It was an argument that was a real as I was able to be - an argument that, in the end, was to free my client."

    Imagine how a trial would be different if your fear went away.  It is beyond preadventure that there would be a dramatic improvement in one's trial performance.  Do you really know who you are?  Do you have the courage to overcome your own fear to know who you really are?  When you try a case, do you bring just the lawyer to the courtroom or do you bring your whole person? 

Hayes put into perspective the magnitude of the pressure facing the trial lawyer when he equated being in battle with being in trial.  He overcame his fear by recognizing it, managing it, and overcoming it.  Cody, also a hero in the field, recognized his fear of speaking in front of crowds and overcame it.  Indeed, Cody became the consummate showman with his Wild West Show around the world.  Lastly, Gerry Spence, a living legend and wonderful teacher, not only acknowledges his fears as a trial lawyer, but shows us how he deals with them as a means to teach us how to deal with our own.  Accordingly, the basis and genesis for a winning summation is to face your own fears, know who you really are and to conquer those fears by being and sharing your whole person with the jury.