Thought Leadership – Where have all the leaders gone?

Are you a thought leader? Does a lawyer need to be a thought leader? Only if you want more revenue, only if you want people to recognize your name and seek you out. Lawyers, since the beginnings of our country, have been thought leaders. People like John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and many other of our founding fathers, were trained in the law.

Until recently, more than 50% of our Congress were trained in the law. Today, less than 25% have such training. Where have all our thought leaders gone? Is it that lawyers no longer see public service as a calling? Is it that lawyers who might otherwise serve earn a disproportionately higher income in the practice than they could in public service and therefore the lure to politics is diminished? Is it that the legal profession no longer focuses on pro bono and community service as a differentiator between practicing law and engaging in other professions? Is it that lawyers have stooped to being ill-tempered and without civility, therefore just not commanding or deserving the respect of the community as in years past?

Far more questions than answers. But, we used to produce statesmen with a legal education and no longer seem to be able to do this.
                       

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