When lawyers lose their sense of perspective

Most lawyers are not conniving backstabbers.

Forget what you may have heard. Sure, the profession (like any) has its bad eggs.

But trust me, most members of the bar take their jobs seriously and try to act with professionalism and compassion.

Sometimes, however, they do lose their sense of perspective.

Case in point: a divorce case handled by Wellesley attorney Bryna S. Klevan (who is not the bad guy in this tale).

At the very moment that Klevan was meeting with hospital ethicists to determine whether to end life-support for her mother, her opposing lawyer in the case was, against her request, pushing forward with a court hearing.

On the eve of the hearing, Klevan learned that doctors felt it was time to consider stopping treatment for her mother. It was clear that her death was around the corner.

Klevan asked for a two-week continuance.

Bear in mind, this had been a contentious case, and I’m guessing Klevan did a few things to upset the opposing lawyer and vice versa.

Still, she assumed that her mother’s dire state would be sufficient reason to put off the hearing.

Soon came the answer from the opposing counsel, Dawn A. MacGregor of Boston: Sorry. No can do.

The hearing went forward, with no one representing the interests of a man named Joseph Ely, who subsequently lost the hearing (which meant that Ely was held in contempt for not making certain payments).

Thirty-six hours later, Sylvia Brownstein died at the age of 65 from complications of open-heart surgery. She left two children and four grandchildren.

“The Family Court attorneys are the least sensitive to family crises in the court, where they should be the most sensitive,” Klevan told me recently.

Now, mind you, MacGregor has a side to this story, too.

She points out in court documents that she had only one day’s notice of the condition of Klevan’s mother.

But, says Klevan, “I can’t say I’m going to know two weeks in advance that my mom will be terminally ill. That’s not always possible. … If we don’t have compassion to give someone a two-week continuance because a parent is on their death bed, then what is the point?”

Many divorce cases are rife with vitriol. But hasn’t something gone really wrong when “my mother is about to die” is no longer a valid excuse?

Klevan’s law partner and husband, Alan J. Klevan, has this to say: “The life of a loved one is so much more important than pots and pans.”

As it turns out, Bryna Klevan takes an amount of solace in the way a lawyer on a separate case treated her during her ordeal with her mom.
This lawyer gave Klevan all the leeway she needed.

“My faith was restored,” says Klevan, “because the lawyer, who is usually known as being very contentious, told me: ‘You only have one mom. Go take care of her.’”

Thank goodness she did so, instead of showing up in court to fight over pots and pans. {EXA}