In honor of Martin Luther King Day, I took some time to read through some of the many things he had to say. He had a lot of things to say. About a lot of things. Some of them strike a chord with me in my work in resolving legal disputes for clients. Dr. King was a preacher, and of course he also became a social issue activist. So the legal issues he dealt with were much more on the societal level than the individual legal disputes I help clients with. But I find some of his comments to be relevant to my work as well.
“Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.”
We are very fortunate in this country that we have developed a means of resolving legal disputes that is based on people’s rights under the law, as opposed to physical aggression, revenge and retaliation. When conducted in good faith, litigation determines people’s legal rights and responsibilities in a civilized way. And while the process can certainly be challenging, and is imperfect, it is so much better than the alternative that “might makes right.”
“Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.”
“Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.”
“There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.”
Legal disputes can sometimes generate very strong emotions. But I have found that when parties to a legal dispute are bitter toward their opponent, or hate them, those emotions often cloud their ability to think clearly about the issues and the possible resolutions. The world is not made up of people who are either simply good or bad. All of us are imperfect. If we can really see our own imperfections, and really see the positive aspects of our opponent, we are in a better position to productively work through a legal dispute to achieve a reasonable resolution with them.
“Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.”
Resolving legal disputes can be quite difficult. The circumstances that got the parties into their dispute can be very complicated, or the parties may face barriers of many kinds to the resolution any of them may want. Attorneys can help parties do the hard, solid thinking needed to find solutions that are fully-baked. While there are too many unfortunate examples of cases where an attorney has fallen short of this goal, in my experience most of the time attorneys do a good job of helping their clients with the hard and solid thinking that is needed.
Dr. King left us a legacy we can use to help resolve disputes—both big societal ones as well as individual legal disputes. I’m glad we honor him and this legacy with this national day.
GOOD THOUGHTS. THANKS FOR SHARING
A timely blog you have shared , Monte. I had just been thinking that it’s been awhile since I saw your last blog. MLK was a wise man. Do you know how he got his name (good trivia question )?
Sure, from his father, Martin Luther King, Sr. But that would gloss over a more complicated and interesting story. He was named Michael King at birth. Years later, his father began referring to himself as Martin Luther King. That was after a foreign trip including through Germany, the birthplace of Protestantism and Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, and seeing the growing Nazi influence there. It fundamentally changed his view of himself and his role in the world. So, as Jacob had become Israel, Saul had become Paul, and Simon had become Peter, Michael King, Sr. became Martin Luther King. And he started calling his son Martin Luther King, Jr. After awhile, someone made the name a bit official when at age 28 the name on his birth certificate was changed by crossing out Michael and handwriting in Martin Luther. Not how name changes are typically done now.
We have some time ago abandoned MLK. Rather than judge based on content of character we judge based on color of skin, sexual orientation or gender. He’d be appalled with today’s culture.
PS Looking good Monte!
Thanks Monte. We all sin individually and we contribute to societal sins. No one is immune; even those who think they are not. The quicker we realize we are all in the same community, the closer we may come to creating MLK’s “beloved” community, in which all are welcome.
Outstanding and timely, Monte. I appreciate your sending this important message.
Thanks for sharing Monte!