On The Importance Of Playing Second Fiddle
Leonard Bernstein, the celebrated maestro, once opined on what was the hardest instrument to play:
Second fiddle. I can always get plenty of first violinists, but to find one who plays second violin with as much enthusiasm or second French horn or second flute, now that's a problem. And yet if no one plays second, we have no harmony.
Harry Truman, the celebrated amateur pianist, haberdasher and President of the United States said it like this:
It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.
After the break a few thoughts on what being an appellate lawyer and playing second fiddle have in common.
When I was a briefing attorney for the Supreme Court of Texas, we used to receive briefs with two or three major firms and a half dozen or more lawyers listed in the signature blocks. I was not fooled.
I knew that the brief was not written by Mr. Grey Hair Fancy Pants who likely had not seen the inside of a library since the age of the rotary phone. No, the person who knew what the cases and the record said was far down in the signature block if their name was on the brief at all.
Bitter law nerd? Maybe.
But I like to think I've grown up a little.
Plucking Junior Law Nerd from the back desk of the second violins and giving them the solo part does not make the orchestra sound better. You lose the harmony. But great things can happen when folks aren't fighting for the top line of the signature block.
Some of the most satisfying representations I have been involved in were collaborations where I never appeared in the court room or even on the brief.
The client did not know.
The court did not know.
But I knew and the trial lawyer knew and it was very, very satisfying to think I made a difference.
A good lawyer knows that it is the client's case, not the lawyer's case. An appellate lawyer knows how to collaborate with trial counsel in making the client's case.
Ideally, this starts early on with researching the elements of proof, doing an early draft jury charge, handling dispositive motions and all manner of things that lawyers might not consider to be strictly "appellate." In doing so, it's amazing what you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit.
In Texas, we lawyers swear an oath to "honestly demean" ourselves in the practice of law. When I took the oath 16 years ago, I remember wondering exactly what that meant and thinking it an odd combination of words. Now, I think maybe it means we have to be willing to play a second fiddle with relish.
That's where the harmony comes from.
Welcome to the Appellate Record-- --the online community and virtual watering hole for appellate lawyers and anyone else who is comfortable with their inner law nerd.
I look forward to every post you do on this blog. I loved this one too.
Kendall,
You go, guy! Thank you for illuminating this reality, Coach!