There is a large warning in the truth of this observation about the moral tone of a firm. The warning is the influence you have upon your associates in the daily work, because that's where standards are set. The examples are set in the ordinary work of the day, the decisions to file or not to file, to respond or not to respond, and how to respond. Little stones become a large wall, shutting off sloth, and lack of attention to the affairs of clients. The tone is set less by preachments and lectures and more by steady example.
Nothing teaches more powerfully than a lawyer's life well lived.
The sobering bite attending the realization of influence is the responsibility flowing directly from the reality of just how much the moral tone of the firm rests on our own shoulders. An Orwellian fear of big government watching you is an empty literary turn compared to the scrutiny of your fellow lawyers and your associates in particular. I cannot put from my mind the unfailing courtesy and patience of John Jackson of my old firm. The little ways he found for positive solutions to the problems of clients and the firmness of his resolve against any shortcuts. Brother Comiskey's observation accents the role of those in charge.