The Scout Law and the Road to Doing it Right
By Dan Murdock, OBA General Counsel

During 2006, OBA President Bill Grimm graciously allowed me to use a paper he had prepared as the materials for several of the various continuing legal education presentations I made during the year. In that paper, President Grimm related the similarity of scouting character traits and our concept of professionalism. The first thing a Scout must learn is “be prepared.” Our education and experience should prepare us for a legal career. He also quoted Scout Law which states: “A scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.” Although never a Scout, I always knew of and had heard of those traits. I assume many of you did as well. I knew that those standards were the basic guidelines for the behavior and attitude of all Scouts.

Late last fall I bought popcorn from a young Scout whom I did not know but who lives nearby in the neighborhood. That occurrence is not uncommon for most of us. However what occurred thereafter is uncommon. Shortly after I received my popcorn, I received a very nice thank you note signed by the young Scout. This young Scout has no idea or concept about the effect this simple act had on my life. It was neatly typed, signed by the young Scout, and it had the Scout seal imprinted on it to make it look official. That letter was certainly unexpected but very much appreciated. It was also good business because I will certainly buy from him in the future. I do not think, however, that the business aspect was what this letter was all about. I think it was all about this young Scout learning about life and wanting to do what should be done. I am sure that his parents and other adults, perhaps his Scout leaders, had some influence on him, and what a positive influence it is. I do not know how many of the traits mentioned above were covered by his actions, but it was clearly his intent to comply with the intent of Scout Law.

Our Standards of Professionalism as adopted by our Board of Governors on Nov. 20, 2002, and by the Oklahoma Judicial Conference on Dec. 20, 2002, tell us that these standards are not intended to be used as a basis for discipline or for establishing standards of conduct in an action against a lawyer. But such as the Scout Law provides guidance to scouts, these standards, if followed, will greatly assist in insuring our legal excellence. We need to make sure that it is the intent of those standards that we seek to follow.

I present a seminar in which I talk about “The Cowboy Code.” Now I am more familiar with “Scout Law.” We lawyers have our rules of conduct and our aspirational standards of professionalism. I certainly am not a role model. I try, but I have my shortcomings and do not always meet the standards that exist. As I have said in another article in the Oklahoma Bar Journal and in previous CLE presentations, all of this is not about perfection but the realization of our imperfections and our intended goal to meet the expectations of that which is required of us.

Perhaps I am becoming too philosophical. I have never pretended to be a scholar. I write what I feel. Make sure what is important in life is important in your life. The paper written by Bill Grimm is, in part, titled “The Road to Doing It Right...” This young Scout is well down that road in his life. Why don’t we follow his path?

Originally published in the Oklahoma Bar Journal Jan. 13, 2007 - Vol. 78; No. 02.