Law Students Need Clarke’s Example

Harold Clarke’s phone is ringing off the hook with requests. Now that he’s retiring from the bench, the Spokane County Superior Court judge is in high demand to give talks, serve on boards, act as a mediator.

We hate to add to his request list. After all, he’s retiring to spend more time with family. He’s 67 and deserves to slow down.

But please, Judge Clarke, make room in your busy semiretirement schedule to talk with law students. They need your message and your example more than ever.

Please pardon the crude statement, but the legal profession’s reputation is in the toilet. The shenanigans by the attorneys in the O.J. Simpson trial haven’t helped matters. In an April American Bar Association poll, 45 percent of Americans surveyed said the Simpson trial has caused them to lose respect for the justice system. (The media fared even worse.)

And just last week, a Cheney lawyer garnered headlines because he received $750,000 of an older woman’s estate. The 85-year-old woman was his client and he drafted the will.

The incident reinforced every stereotype of lawyers as greedy and unethical.

So, Judge Clarke, take the time to explain to students how you managed to stay in the law profession for 38 years - 21 of them as a judge - and maintain a good reputation. People say you are a man of integrity, fairness, gentleness and modesty. And some of those who say it are the criminals you sentenced.

Give the students the secret to your dignified courtroom demeanor.

You treated novice lawyers with the same respect as experienced lawyers, though we’re sure at times you were exasperated by the new lawyers. You never threw a tantrum, swung your power around or cussed beyond saying “doggone.”

You came into the profession in what you describe as the “Golden Age” of law in Spokane. When a handshake sealed a deal and lawyers could settle things by phone, not certified mail.

You have never forgotten the older lawyers who helped you as a young lawyer. Some of them are infirm now and you visit them in hospitals and nursing homes.

That is the example the students need to see. We asked you what advice you’d give to young lawyers. You said: “Don’t abuse your brethren. Be courteous and polite to each other. And keep your clients fully advised. They come to you with the biggest problems of their lives. Treat them with respect.”

What more can be said? Judge Clarke’s court is adjourned. And the bench is lesser for it.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Rebecca Nappi/For the editorial board.