After taking the summer bar exam, I started packing. I had previously told my wife that I wanted to spend six months or so traveling in Central and South America after law school. We had a house that came with a mortgage payment, which presented a problem. There was also the little issue of a job. I assured her I could find reliable people to rent the house while we were gone, and that I would find a job that didn’t start until January. She laughed. That, however, was a time in life when absolutely everything seemed possible. I believed things would work out and they generally did. I found two law students to move into the house, and convinced a law firm to let me start in January rather than the typical August or September time frame.
It was only a matter of time before Chris and I were deplaning in the Yucatan. We then travelled by land through Belize and into Guatemala. It was, in fact, on the Guatemalan Island of Flores, outside the Mayan ruins at Tikal, that I used what by modern standards was a primitive phone system to learn I had passed the bar exam.
Since that voyage, I have traveled to many places. In my travels, I have found the more primitive the culture, the more friendly the people – unless, of course, you do something really stupid and end up in a boiling pot of oil or being shot at with poison darts. During the post law school trip, I found Guatemala peopled by the most colorful and indigenous individuals in Central America, and I vowed to return.
The physical miles travelled, however, are not the only paths navigated. Life, as they say, “happens.” I began a legal career, and had three wonderful and uniquely different daughters. I learned how to be an effective lawyer, a little from tutoring and a lot from observing how it was done by some of the more senior lawyers around me. At the time I started practicing law, some of the older lawyers were complaining about the way young lawyers were doing things, and about better times in the past. Now I complain about those same things.
Looking back, there has been travel down paths of innovation and reinvention, on roads both personal and within the practice of law. Those roads are both obvious and subtle. The technology changes in the practice of law are obvious, and some believe they enhance our ability to serve our clients. Others argue the instant nature of communications makes the practice of law harder and perhaps nastier. The more subtle change is the true cause of increased angst and antagonism. It is the ever increasing shift from a professional model to a business model, but that is the same complaint I heard from older lawyers when I began. Perhaps Abraham Lincoln faced the issue, too.
Through the years, I have been fortunate enough to have great cases, and to have represented great people – some well known – and some fine companies. I have had the opportunity to get involved in many charities and to have enjoyed bar work with my fellow lawyers. And, as life happens, all of us wander down roads we never thought we would travel. After more than 30 years, there was a divorce from my lawyer wife, and then a new marriage.
As adventures and travel continue, it is clear life changes with time. Perhaps it was that thought that caused me to conclude it was finally time to see what had changed in Guatemala as well. The last time I headed to Central America, the trip lasted about half a year. This time the hotels were better, but the time was much shorter.
The biggest surprise was the lack of certain change. In many areas, the indigenous people were living the same way they lived three decades ago. The colorful and clashing handmade woven outfits worn by both men and women are still a photographer’s dream. The Mayan ruins are still being excavated, and in Copan, Honduras, I was told that at the current rate of excavation, it will take 300 more years.
The Central American Republics have never been long on democracy or the rule of law. Since I was last in Guatemala, there has been military and revolutionary turmoil there, as well as in most of the Central American countries. I’m sure Guatemala has lawyers, but I didn’t see a single law office shingle. I did, however, see lots of guns. Weapons are freely wielded by the military on the streets, and by guards at banks, hotels and elsewhere. While in a small town, I saw an armored car pull up to a bank to collect the deposit. I’ve seen armored cars at home, and in other countries, and usually the guards are neither young nor fit, and don’t seem to be particularly concerned about being robbed. It was different. All of the five guards looked tough, wore bulletproof vests and seemed to be on high alert as I saw them carry the money from the bank vault to the armored vehicle. It appeared they were waiting for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid to descend upon them at any moment.
I was reminded how strong the rule of law is here in the United States, despite our problems. Although I noticed a few changes in Guatemala, for the most part, the country was the same – it was just my wife that was different. Of course, I told her that being with her made this return trip more enjoyable. That’s the kind of wisdom that comes with age.
©2011 Under Analysis LLC Mark Levison is a member of the law firm Lathrop & Gage LLP. You can reach Under Analysis LLC in care of this paper or by e-mail at comments@levisongroup.com.