The Oklahoma Bar Journal August 2023

We all must do our part to uphold the long black line of the law, for ourselves, for our clients and for our colleagues. We are inextricably bound in this profes sion, as people with very similar attributes and weaknesses in the same place and time, like a flesh and blood family – like brothers, like sisters. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Travis Pickens is a civil litigation and ethics lawyer in private practice in Oklahoma City. From August 2009 to January 2015, he served as ethics counsel for the Oklahoma Bar Association and as an OBA liaison to the Lawyers Helping Lawyers Assistance Program Committee. For many years, he served as an adjunct professor of law practice at the OCU School of Law.

Another and more personal way to further improve the odds of success with troubled lawyers is to elevate the way we look at our fellow lawyers – see them as not just professional colleagues but also as part of our profes sional family . Like genuine family members, we would rush to help or assist with a problem. Instead of quietly standing by, we should proactively act on the impulse to intervene in an obviously bad situation. We should recognize that we are privileged to practice one of the historical professions; like physicians and priests, lawyers are often called to serve peo ple and institutions at the most critical and painful times in their lives. We all share that honor and privilege but also the unique stress and emotional weight that goes with it, an unavoidable and dangerous burden.

Statements or opinions expressed in the Oklahoma Bar Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Board of Editors or staff.

34 | AUGUST 2023

THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL