Tom Glocer, blogging again, defends lawyers

"For those of you who thought that my recent post on Goldman Sachs was controversial, you will no doubt decide that I have certifiably lost my mind to come to the defense of lawyers. Of all the undeserving species that roam the earth, none is as commonly reviled as Lawyer Americanus," the CEO wrote.  

Glocer’s original post on 22 April attracted the attention of The New York Times and drew unfavourable comment from more than half the readers who wrote in to his blog as well as from some visitors to this website and the Newspaper Guild of New York (which is in contract dispute with Thomson Reuters).

Glocer, a former mergers and acquisitions lawyer who joined Reuters in 1993 as deputy counsel, Reuters America, acknowledged the legal profession is often viewed as loathsome, saying "lawyers are a pain in the ass because life can be a pain in the ass".

"Most of the lawyers I know, and I readily admit they include more big firm attorneys, judges, general counsels and law professors, are kind, decent people who were often attracted to the law in the first place by an enhanced sense of fairness or justice, and who will listen and respond to rational argument. There are also a certain number of moral retrobates (sic) who prey on the weak and the innocent and produce nothing of socially-redeeming value while billing at a high hourly rate, but, in my experience, they are generally the exception. 

"I have tended to keep these thoughts to myself over a career now split about equally between time working as a lawyer and time working as a manager. However, for the last two years I have had the good fortune to be reunited with the law, through the Legal business of Thomson Reuters. We employ so many attorneys to produce and support our services for legal professionals, that we would count among the 20 largest law firms in the US. This has given me not just the excuse, but the obligation, to get back in touch with the people and substance of my professional roots, and this has been both rewarding and enjoyable.   

"So the next time you feel ready to garrotte ‘the other guy’s’ lawyer, just ask yourself the question whether it is not her principal you should strangle instead, and reflect on whether this highly ritualized form of battle is not preferable to the law of the jungle." ■