Bench & Bar March/April 2026

PRESIDENT'S PAGE

quality of his engagement with the world. Patrick cared, she writes, about "doing things in a way that was thoughtful and deliberate, and in a way that carried a kind of quiet beauty. Not beauty in a superficial sense, but in the sense that the result was something you could stand behind. Some thing meaningful. Something that made the world, or the people around him, a little stronger."

We are trained to think in cycles. How many hours did I bill last year? How many cases did I settle? How many successful jury ver dicts have I achieved? January 1 st always seems like a new cycle and a new beginning. But the truth is the opposite. The truth is that a legal career, or a life in the law, is built exactly the way Patrick described: through the accumulation of small moments, lived with integrity, repeated over and over again until they become something enduring. Now, think about that! This is a deep dis tillation of wisdom expressed in a simple manner that is wildly profound. Patrick believed, Sarah tells us, that "actions compound. The way you treat people. The standards you hold yourself to. The way you show up in conversation. The way you build something in the world. None of it exists in isolation. Each choice becomes the next stone in the path of a life." Consider what that means for those of us who practice law. Every interaction with a client, especially the frightened ones, the difficult ones, and the ones who cannot pay what they owe. Each is a stone in that path. Every time you tell a client the truth they do not want to hear, rather than the comfort they seek, you are playing the long game. Every time you treat opposing counsel with respect even when they have not earned it, every time you keep your word when no one is watch ing, every time you give a younger lawyer the benefit of your hard-won experience, you add a stone to the pathway of life. Over time, the stones accumulate and lead you to a life that exemplifies the pursuit of the long game. Conversely, every shortcut, every ethical lapse, every client set aside, and every false excuse is a stone, but not on a path. They are stones you carry on your back. Although often unnoticed, these negative stones are a weight that slows your progress or worse. What strikes me most about Sarah's portrait of her husband is the way she describes the

through the choices of each ordinary day, what kind of lawyer, and what kind of person, we intend to be. This pursuit should be the foundation of our personal and pro fessional lives. We have a calling higher than a career. Sarah writes that Patrick "lived completely inside the life in front of him while know ing that every step he took was shaping the legacy he would leave behind." This life is available to us as well. When I knew Patrick, I did not fully understand his philosophy. But when I learned how loved and influ ential he was, I wanted to understand how one person could have such a major impact on so many people. The intrinsic value and deep meaning of his philosophy now explain the force of his life. That is why I wanted to share it with you. Patrick Heringer did not live a long life. But he appears to have lived a complete one. His choices reflected something larger than his immediate circumstances. His philosophy did not require decades to be authentic. It required only the willingness to ask, at each decision point, what this produces over time. That question is available to you today. In your next client meeting, in your next difficult conversation with a colleague, in the next A life in the law is a long game. Patrick knew it. Now we do too. Play it accordingly. moment you are tempted to cut a corner or compromise a standard, think about The Long Game. ENDNOTE 1 Heringer received two Bronze Stars, an Iraq Campaign Medal, an Afghanistan Cam paign Medal, a National Defense Service Medal, a Global War on Terror Service Medal, a NATO Medal, two Overseas Ser vice Ribbons, and a Combat Action Badge and Air Assault Wings.

Is that not an almost perfect description of what it means to be a good lawyer?

A good lawyer is as careful with their speech as with their briefs. A good lawyer is aware of the significance of their constitutional oath.

This beauty is not how you become a famous lawyer or a rich lawyer. It is how you become a good lawyer. A good lawyer is as careful with their speech as with their briefs. A good lawyer is aware of the signif icance of their constitutional oath. That is the quiet beauty Patrick was after. It is the quiet beauty our profession is capable of when we remember what we are actually building. Good lawyers build and enhance the profession through their pursuit of the truth and justice. A whole lot of good law yers make the world a better place. I am at a point in my career where these questions press with particular urgency. I think about the lawyers who shaped me, the ones who gave me not just technique, but a standard of conduct, a model of what this work could mean. I always remember my father who exemplified this standard. He was never famous or rich, but he was loved and admired. I also think about the young lawyers I encounter now, at bar functions and courthouses and law schools, who are trying to find their footing in a profession that often fails to tell them what they are really doing here. What are we really doing here? Patrick's answer, translated into the lan guage of the law, might sound something like this: we are building something that will outlast the case in front of us. We are earning the trust of the people we serve. We are contributing to the reputation of a pro fession that our civilization literally cannot function without. We are demonstrating,

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