Everyone knows about Abraham Lincoln as the President of the United States of America, generally regarded as our best President. Abraham Lincoln was also a tremendous lawyer. That is in fact what he spent most of his professional life doing. We can learn a lot about Abraham Lincoln from his career as a lawyer. We all know that he was call Honest Abe and was called this for a reason, both in his politics and law practice. With regard to his law practice, he had this to say, “ Resolve to be honest at all events and if in your own judgement, you cannot an honest lawyer, resolve to be honest without being a lawyer.” In other words, honesty was the paramount trait. One of Abraham’s early biographers, Ida Tarbell, wrote this about him, “Where he saw injustice, he was quick to offer his services to the wronged party.” Abraham Lincoln cared about justice and pursued justice honestly and with integrity.
He also, which is kind of interesting, in light of today’s legal world where we have advertising that inundates the TV almost constantly, he said this, “Never stir up litigation. A worst man can scarcely be found who does this.” He was a peace maker and in fact, he said that a lawyers greatest and most noblest job was to be a peace maker. In terms of how he carried out his practice with honesty and integrity, he said this about hard work, “The leading rule for the lawyer, as for the man of other calling is diligence. Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today.” That is not only good advice for the lawyers who sometimes procrastinate but for all of us in our daily lives. He was pragmatic, he was diligent, he was honest.
He knew the work of the lawyer was in a lot of ways drudgery. It is not always being in trial, in front of a jury, and some of the better aspects. That is just tip of the ice berg. Lincoln knew the work of a lawyer was drudgery and said as much. He never complained or never apologized for having to do the hard workday in and day out. That is something we can adopt in our lives whether it be a job, career, or otherwise.
