Do you listen to sports talk radio? Does it drive you crazy? Me too. Notwithstanding that it was great to attend two Game 7s within a week, the results were very disappointing and hard to reconcile. In their aftermath, I was listening to a talk radio discussion regarding the Celtics vs. Orlando series and the show hosts were debating whether the NBA made a mistake when it adopted the three-point field goal in 1979. The hosts were hotly arguing weather the game of basketball had been ruined by the rule, and they argued that there was something “pure” about the games that were played before the rules change.
 
Who do they think constitutes their audience when they argue about things that happened in 1979? Attempting to explain to my 20-something sons that the rules were better in 1979 would be like me listening to stories about how great things were in the late 1940’s. The old rules are irrelevant. Sure, there are always great lessons to be learned from history, but a 24 year old can only tolerate modest doses of old John Havlicek and Bill Russell stories.
 
At the Spring Conference in May we learned about the new data security laws. Under 201 CMR 17.00 every company is required to adopt a comprehensive written security program by January 1, 2010. You will have to encrypt certain data in your Blackberry and iPhone; although nobody knows how. Old guys like me may find it easier to limit the use of our handheld devices so as to exclude personal data, but I suspect that younger people will have difficulty complying with the requirements. Will this create a generation of scoff-laws who think that the old people are living in the past and creating rules that are just irrelevant?
 
I just read an article in a law school magazine wherein young lawyers were bragging about all the legal business that they had generated through social networking tools such as “Facebook” and “Twitter”. Old guys generally do not use such tools because we are already overwhelmed by communication received via Fed-X, U.S. Mail, telephone, fax, voice-mail, e-mail, and text messages (text messages are required for communicating with college age children). But before I would consider using tools such as “Facebook” I would have to figure out how to comply with the Rules of Professional Conduct (see Rule 7.3) and the new data security laws. Perhaps younger people feel that the rules were written before the invention of “Facebook” and that the old people who wrote the rules are living in the past.
 
Much has been written about the erosion of respect for the rule of law. Some say our generation, that questioned authority in the 1970’s, was the catalyst for the eroding respect for the law. We can also prevent further erosion by respecting the rule of law and making it easier for our colleagues to also respect the law. A local conveyancer, a generation older than I, told me that during this economic slowdown he considered the option of performing refinance closings for an out-of-state closing company. He carefully read the many pages of fine print contained within the closing company’s agreement. He concluded that the breadth of legal obligations to the closing company would be similar to the obligations owed to a local lender; however, if he performed closings for the closing company he would not see the title exam, nor the commitment letter or other documents that comprise the elements of the transaction. He would not be in a position to provide complete answers to the borrowers at the closing, and he could not be sure that the borrower could convey to the lender good and clear record and marketable title. He concluded that for a fee of under $200.00,  the risk was not worth the reward.
 
Perhaps it is “old school” to read the fine print. Encourage your colleagues, young and not-so-young to read the fine print, and refer to the Rules of Professional Conduct. If you feel that the Rules are out-dated, confer with the Office of Bar Counsel or participate with you favorite bar association to discuss ways to create compliance with the Rules. Treating the Rules as irrelevant is not an option.