Tierney to Deliver Memorial Address

Milwaukee Bar AssociationI hope that many folks reading this post will elect to attend the Milwaukee Bar Association’s annual Memorial Service: it will be held this Friday, May 6, at 10:45 a.m., in the Ceremonial Courtroom (Room 500) of the Milwaukee County Courthouse. It is an event that a number of us have come rarely to miss—largely because we enjoy it, as I explained in a 2009 blog post noting the remembrance by Tom Cannon of his father, Judge Robert C. Cannon, L’41, and in a post last year anticipating Mike Brennan’s remembrance of his own father, James P. Brennan, L’60. The Memorial Service is an opportunity to remember attorneys who died with the past year, after serving the profession and thus the larger society: some names and careers will be familiar to a particular attendee, whereas others will be unknown to him or her—but in this context the latter are not much less meaningful. I see that this year’s Memorial Address will be delivered by Joseph E. Tierney, III, L’66. That is certainly a longstanding name in this region’s legal profession, as discussed previously in posts on this blog, including Gordon Hylton’s description of the legal education of the first Joseph E. Tierney, L’11 (that’s 1911), and my own account of Joe III’s remarks, at a law school event, concerning his late mother and father, Bernice Young Tierney and Joseph E. Tierney, Jr., L’41. I much look forward to Mr. Tierney’s remarks (no doubt remembering among others his late partner, Paul Meissner, who died within the past year) and to the rest of the special session of court, which is the form that the Memorial Service takes.

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Reflections on a Difficult Spring

This has been a tough spring so far. This country has seen some of the most incredible natural storm devastation in history. While the economy is showing signs of improvement, there are far too many who continue to suffer. Politics reached all time levels of nastiness in this State, and the temperatures just can’t seem to jump higher than 55 degrees. So, how do we make sense of all of this on a professional level?

Personally, this news forces me to step aside from the day-to-day pressures of my law practice and think about how to make sure there is value in what we do. The practice of law is extremely rewarding. The work we do impacts people in ways that we can’t really imagine. The words we use to communicate, the guidance we provide, and the way we treat people in our professional and personal life should reflect an appreciation for goodness in what we experience, empathy about the news we receive, and joy for the happy moments we share with one another.

This is tough work, and we have a responsibility to own our behavior and understand its impact on others. We can allow all of these horrible events to drag us down or we can reflect upon all that is happening around us and find ways to encourage those who we work with and those we represent to deal with challenges with higher levels of empathy, grace and compassion. This does not mean we give up on strong advocacy. It means that we give more thought to how our message is delivered and its impact on those who receive it. Take the personal challenge of changing the environment around you by your words and your actions.

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