Legal Commentary

I regularly criticize the portrayal of law and lawyers in popular culture. So when culture gets it right, I should acknowledge it. I give you Friday Night Lights, which had a great piece of law (and lawyers) in action last week.

For those of you who do not watch one of the best shows on television: One of the season-long plots is that a student (at East Dillon), Becky, became pregnant by Luke, one of the East Dillon football players. She went to see Tami Taylor, the Coach's wife and the principal at West Dillon at the Taylor house, seeking advice. Tami spoke to her and the request of one of Coach's former players. Tami talked to her about adoption; when Becky asked what she could do if she didn't want to have the baby, Tami said she could give her brochures. She also encouraged Becky to speak with her mother. Becky eventually went, with her mother, to terminate the pregnancy. Luke's mother finds out that Tami had given Becky advice and that Becky had an abortion; she complains (mistakenly telling people that Tami had told Becky to have an abortion) first to the School Board and then to the local paper, sparking anger and protests from many town residents. The Board tells Tami that she will be fired unless she issues a Board-drafted public statement apologizing for her handling of the situation.

Tami goes to speak with an attorney, who tells her that she has a strong wrongful termination case. (Actually, I had been thinking about whether she might have a pretty good First Amendment claim, since she spoke completely out of her role as a principal--functionally equivalent to giving advice to a family friend. That claim probably runs aground because the advice she gave to one pregnant girl probably was not on a matter of public concern as required for a successful public-employee speechclaim, unless all discussion of abortion, even a private one-on-one conversation, is so hot-button as to always be of public concern). But the lawyer goes goes on to point out other considerations that must go into her decision--the case could drag on for years (that's somewhat overstated--an individual claim does not drag on that long in a fairly discrete individual action--but not entirely untrue), she probably would not be able to get a job as a principal in the meantime, and she probably could not win (or want) reinstatement at the end of the day.

The problem, the lawyer tells her, is that "there's law . . . and there's life." This is something that is usually not portrayed in the media, where the failure to sue is an indication that a claim would have failed (i.e., "If the accusations weren't true, why aren't you suing?"). And it is something we may not always get across to our students, especially when we teach via judicial opinions in cases that, by definition, were brought. Not every potentially meritorious case will or should be brought. One's decisions to sue or not (or to settle or not) are driven by a host of considerations. It is easy to say she should stand up for her rights and her principles and see them vindicated. But, in the meantime, what does she eat and how does she pay for her daughter's college? That must weigh in the balance where she has an option--apologize--that allows her to keep her job. I did think it was interesting that the writers sent her to a private employment lawyer (who had a deer hear on his wall) rather than the ACLU--which raises a whole set of other issues about cause lawyering, etc.

Some accurate legal reality from a show about football . . . and life. Ironic, since, according to my friend who is a high school football coach, Coach Taylor is a really lousy coach.