Masters Seminar on Ethics to explore the ‘New Ethic of Truth Decay’
Lawyers have an ethical responsibility to combat a “post-truth” environment that if left unchallenged, threatens the rule of law, warns veteran FIU law school professor and trial attorney Scott Fingerhut.
“Lies are nothing new, but they are being presented to America in a new way that many people seemingly are on board with,” Fingerhut says. “It’s a dangerous thing that makes a lawyer’s job more difficult, and it puts the profession in peril, because at bottom, confidence in the rule of law is all we have.”
On June 10, from 8 a.m. to noon at the Bar’s Annual Convention, Fingerhut will join a panel of experts for the 2021 Masters Seminar on Ethics. (Course No. 4375 is authorized for 4.0 hours of General CLE and 4.0 hours of Ethics CLE. To register, click here.)
Fingerhut will lead a discussion titled, “Between the Magic and the Madness: On the Psychology of Persuasion, the Worth of our Attention, and How to Save the Soul of our Profession with the New Ethic of Truth Decay.”
Few trends could be more threatening to a profession dedicated to facts and the search for truth, Fingerhut said. With some lawyers willing to foment the myth, Fingerhut says the challenge to the profession extends beyond the courtroom, and the risk of encountering jurors who are conditioned to reject hard evidence.
Fingerhut sees a need to reemphasize the ethical principles at the core of the profession. He considers the presentation a “conversation/call to arms to take back truth.”
“I see this as an opportunity to pause, and reflect, and have an important conversation with my colleagues about our profession, and about our ethical responsibilities to clients, and causes, and the courts, and the communities that we serve, but ultimately, our ethical responsibility to ourselves, professionally and personally,” he said.
A former chair of the Criminal Law Section and twice-former chair of the Criminal Procedure Rules Committee, Fingerhut is a member of the Professional Ethics Committee and the Code & Rules of Evidence Committee.
Fingerhut says his presentation will explore the psychology of lies and how easily they spread at a time when faith in institutions is dwindling, attention spans are shrinking, and social media amplifies and rewards grievance.
As advocates, lawyers “tilt” facts in a manner that allows judges and juries to form an opinion and reach a relative truth, Fingerhut says.
“We’re dealing more with the legal liability of guilt, not so much the factual liability of guilt, and it was constitutionally legitimated, and thus, societally accepted,” he said.
But “it was not, nor was it ever intended to lie, let alone deny objectively verifiable, provable fact, and then be used as a playbook to fracture America,” he said. “Obviously, this is troubling to anyone who is watching this who cares.”
The seminar will be divided into three parts.
The first presentation, “Grievances 2021: Who is Getting into Trouble, Why are they Getting into Trouble, and How are they Being Punished?,” will feature a panel that includes an experienced Florida Bar prosecutor, an experienced respondents’ counsel, and a member of the Professional Ethics Committee as a moderator. Panelists will also focus on ways to avoid having problems with the Bar.
The discussion will be moderated by Caroline Johnson, an Air Force veteran and lawyer with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
A member of the Professional Ethics Committee, Johnson has served on the Florida Supreme Court’s Commission on Professionalism, is a former chair of the Bar’s Professionalism Committee, and is the primary author of the Bar’s “Professionalism Expectations” (SC15-944).
Lawyers are returning to the courthouse at the tail end of a deadly pandemic and at a time when the political landscape is intensely divided, Johnson said. It’s important to remember that venting frustration can lead to trouble, and that lawyers have been disciplined for sending angry emails and treating judges and fellow lawyers disrespectfully.
“People need to understand that once you have that license, you’re a professional operating at the highest level,” she said. “This is a profession with dignity.”
Johnson advises her students at Thomas M. Cooley School of Law not to have Facebook or Twitter accounts. Lawyers should view social media as a tasteful branding opportunity, not a megaphone, she said.
After the morning segment and Fingerhut’s presentation, the seminar will end with a judicial roundtable on ethics, featuring Orange County Judge Amy J. Carter; Ninth Judicial Circuit Judge Gisela T. Laurent; Judge Mindy Mora, U.S. Bankruptcy Court; Magistrate Judge Anthony Porcelli, U.S. District Court; Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, U.S. District Court; and Ninth Judicial Circuit Judge Kevin B. Weiss. Robert Borr, litigation counsel with Irvin & Irvin, PLLC, will serve as moderator.
