Patrick Berry, The Levison Group
A couple weeks back, I spent the entire weekend locked away in my law office. I have been swamped at work lately, and I’m currently in the midst of several high stakes, high stress matters. It was a beautiful weekend, too. To make matters worse, while I was stuck in my office, soaking up the fluorescent lights, I received several texts from my wife and our friends updating me on how “beautiful” it was, telling me they “wished I could get away for a few hours.” Alas, my client’s demand letter wasn’t going to write itself, and my increasingly large “unread” email folder convinced me to decline the “opportunity.” I got home late on Sunday night, feeling a bit sorry for myself, and went straight to bed.
My brief moment of self-pity didn’t last long.
The next morning, October 2, I woke up early to the news of yet another mass shooting, this time in Las Vegas. 58 people are dead, not counting the shooter. Approximately 489 were injured, many critically. Once again I, and the rest of our nation, mourn the senseless loss of innocent life perpetrated by a lone assailant armed with the capacities of a small militia.
For whatever reason, the Nevada shooting has affected me deeply, and in a different way than previous similar incidents. It could be because of the scale and sheer brazenness of the attack. It might be because, at least at this time, there does not appear to be a clear motive for the shooting, so it is difficult to reconcile why such a tragic event occurred. It could be because it is starting to sink in that we, as a country, are witnessing our “new normal” – that such events will continue to happen in the United States and, sadly, our society appears too polarized and politically entrenched to take meaningful action to do anything about it. I hope I’m wrong on that last point.
Plenty of commentators, late night TV hosts and concerned citizens have taken up the political fight since the attack. There are impassioned opinions on both sides of the gun control debate. I’m not going to wade into those arguments and, despite my inclinations as a lawyer, I’m not going to write about the legal implications of this incident, either.
Instead, in the days since the attack, I’ve been searching for glimmers of hope, some small semblance of positive news to be gleaned from this tragedy. Maybe it’s my own attempt at coping. What I’ve found the most uplifting have been the numerous accounts of seemingly average citizens, with no police or emergency response training, who exhibited incredible courage in the face of unimaginable bedlam.
As an attorney, I’m acutely interested in how people respond to stress, turmoil and the unexpected. Will my witness maintain his composure in the face of dogged questioning by opposing counsel? Will my client keep her cool and remain focused when the other party and their attorneys try to break her down during tense negotiations? Never mind the clients, I myself am constantly training and preparing to respond properly and effectively in the face of controversy and stress. The ability to remain cool under pressure and face unexpected challenges with skill and confidence is a necessary attribute for an effective lawyer.
Obviously, though, the things I try to ready myself and my clients for on a regular basis do not come remotely close to the situation that those 20,000 or so concert-goers faced on that fateful Sunday night. The fact that so many attendees did respond, in the face of inconceivable terror, should give hope that at least some of those among us will answer the call when confronted with the inexplicable.
A few of the accounts have stood out to me.
Upon hearing the gun shots, Vanessa, an off-duty nurse, initially started to flee the scene – as most normal, self-preserving humans would. Her initial impulse didn’t last long. Vanessa decided to turn around and run towards the shooting, with bodies dropping all around her as she went. She then proceeded to provide aid to as many of the injured and dying as she could, while bullets whizzed by her. She told reporters that numerous others were doing the same.
Then there was Brian, an attorney who, on Sunday morning, had decided to extend his trip one more night because he had been having so much fun during the weekend’s festivities. His busy law practice rarely allowed for such personal excursions. He ran into a bathroom when the shooting intensified, where he found several women and children huddled together, screaming and crying. Not knowing what else to do, he blocked the doorway with his body to shield the group in the event someone tried to come through the bathroom door. In his interview with CNN, he fought back tears while rhetorically asking the news anchor why his life had been spared, while so many others had met their demise. I was struck most by his empathy and composure in that moment. My guess is he’s an excellent attorney.
There was another man, whose name we will likely never know, who, after being shot in the back, proceeded to cover two young strangers with his body to shield them from the shots raining down. The two women survived because of his selfless acts. They weren’t sure if he was so lucky.
Without a doubt, there were countless other acts of selfless bravery that took place on that field that day. Despite the horror of one deranged man, we saw many facets of the courage, sacrifice and resilience of the human spirit. I can only hope that I would have responded like so many did on that day, with courage in the face of danger and composure in the midst of bloodshed. But for now, all I can do is go back to preparing for my upcoming case, which seems significantly less daunting than it did a few days ago.
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Under Analysis is a nationally syndicated column of the Levison Group. Contact Under Analysis by e-mail at comments@levisongroup.com.
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