Pendulums

I once worked for a very wise man.  Much of what I have learned about being a boss, practicing law, and life in general, came from him.  I'm not sure he knows how influential he was -- maybe.  I doubt that I am the only one because he shaped the careers of many other lawyers who greatly admired him also.

Anyway, I remember one day having a conversation in his office about a judge's ruling on a case.  I was a bit down in the mouth over it because the judge was completely wrong on the law.  At that time there had been a recent change in the judiciary that reflected a certain philosophy toward certain types of cases -- and my case fell into that category. 

He told me that the pendulum is always in the process of swinging, and that if you wait long enough you will see the complete swings that it makes.  We were just at the farthest end of the swing and would have to wait for the pendulum to get corrected by swinging back into place.  I was very young at the time and had never witnessed a full swing (or even a half-swing). 

The case causing my oh-so-woeful state of mind reflected a jury's decision, submitted by a judge with erroneous instructions on the law.  An appellate court decision (or two) would be necessary to correct the judge and jury's mistakes.  However, the decision for me was whether it was worth the client's money to move toward correcting those mistakes by filing an appeal -- or wait until another case came along?  I had to make the recommendation to my client. 

What my boss wanted me to understand was that there would be another case, and another time to challenge the law.  The judge was wrong, but now (at that time) may not be the right time to push ahead.  It may be better to just sit tight and let the pendulum swing a little more.  Maybe it's better to let someone else get hit at the courthouse, too.

Sure enough, that is exactly what happened.  There were other clients that had the same thing happen.  Their cases were submitted with erroneous instructions -- and juries that followed the judge's instructions.  Those other clients appealed.  At the appellate court level their cases were overturned.  The cases were published, and it was clear to everyone then that the jury verdicts had been wrong (because the trial judge's instructions were wrong).

That did not help my client on the old case, but in a sense we were vindicated.  And it proved my boss right.  The pendulum does swing back.  When it gets too far one way or the other it gets pulled back again. 

I believe that.  Now that I am older, I've seen it time and time again.  You can apply the principle to whatever area you like:  I think it still holds true.  Extremism in any arena will be checked and brought back to the center.  It is the way of life.  Maybe it has something to do with fairness.

So thank you, Boss, for that lesson so many years ago.  I still remember.  It gives me hope -- and I really need it right now when there seem to be so many extremists and I really want the middle ground.  Did I say that enough already?