Be Humble

In my first column as president, I encouraged you to be bold in the face of intractable problems in our justice system. As my term nears its end, I want to up the ante with a call for boldness’ counterbalance: be humble.

While boldness and humility may seem like contradictory traits, being both can be a powerful tool for change and the key to effective lawyering and advocacy.

The case for boldness is clear: lawyers need to be assertive, be bravely creative, and be steadfastly principled, even in the face of risk. The case for being humble is equally persuasive, if less obvious on its face. Being humble means being able to recognize your limitations, listen without defensiveness, and learn from mistakes and differences.

Cultivating humility also fosters practical lawyering skills. When we can dampen the filter created by our own positions and experiences, we can better hear what others are trying to tell us. This facilitates better understanding of our clients, witnesses, and opposing legal arguments—to say nothing of our often long-suffering spouses. It also helps us connect better with others and make necessary changes to arguments and strategies that are no longer effective.

Yet being humble without boldness can lead to missed opportunities, underused potential, and debilitating doubt, just as boldness without humility can quickly become over-confidence, rigidity, and alienating to others. There is a real synergy between the two traits:

• Being humble helps others receive your big bold brilliant ideas as something collaborative rather than a threat.
• Being bold supports advancing fresh ideas and solutions, while humility means you can also genuinely listen to critique without defensiveness and make the idea even better.
• Bold humility fosters trust, mutual respect, and helps build more inclusive, resilient teams.
• It allows a balance between taking up space and making room for others.
• It means showing up with courage and curiosity.
• It means leading not from ego, but from a desire to grow, serve, and contribute with authenticity.

I’ve seen this in action time and time again throughout my presidential year as I met and got to know many of the incredibly effective leaders in our profession and justice system. As I make my way toward the exit, I want to thank them—and all of you—for helping me learn and grow while I led.

To our members: I am incredibly proud of your tireless dedication to your clients and to improving our justice and legal systems, which I’ve witnessed through your work on CBABC’s many advocacy submissions, and countless outstanding section meetings and Professional Development programs. I am incredibly proud of the community you’ve built and the care you demonstrate daily in helping each other through mentorship, practice coaching, organizing social activities, and working on mental and physical wellness initiatives. And I am incredibly proud of the strong and influential association of which you are all an integral part—an association that will continue to be an unflinching voice for our profession and the principles that underpin it.

I am humbled to have had the opportunity to represent you in this unique and challenging year. Thank you.

— Lee