Tom Whitehurst

Sunday, June 18, 2000

Do we need another lawyer?

Of Corpus Christi's best and brightest, one could argue that 15-year-old Frankie Arriaga ranks at the top. It's not a good idea to argue otherwise because one of Frankie's most celebrated skills is, for lack of a better word, arguing.
   Earlier this month, Frankie participated in a competition called the Great Debate and returned as state champion at impromptu speaking. His father, Efrain, who goes by Frank, says Frankie often manages to get his way around the house. "He's got the talent to work it around and make you see things his way."
   One might argue that a community that seems to be in perpetual argument with itself about its economic future is likely to produce children who are gifted at arguing. By no means is this observation meant to denigrate Frankie's talent. To the contrary, anyone who has a conversation with him will delight in how deftly he thinks on his feet, assimilates knowledge, finds a logical pattern and problem-solves out loud.
   These are skills that could end a few arguments around here.
   But how best to apply this ability to argue, to advocate, to plead a case?
   Good guess.
   Just what we need
   "I want to go to law school. So I guess that's where it would take me, is being able to argue in the courtroom. My original event was mock trial and I won all my cases, so I guess you could say I got my point across."
   No argument there.
   "I've always wanted to be a lawyer because I've always had the ability to process things quickly in my head so I could word them properly and get them across quickly, as you would need to do to be a lawyer."
   Well said.
   But do we really need another lawyer? If smart is as smart does, there are a lot of other things a smart kid can do with his life, like be an engineer or architect or accountant. Frankie, for example, wanted to be a computer engineer until this debate stuff turned him in another direction.
   The three L's
   Who better to pose this question than Ruben Bonilla, considering that he's a well-known lawyer, a port commissioner and politically connected? As one might expect, Bonilla argued convincingly that lawyers are engines of economic plenty.
   "People love to hate, and lawyers are an easy target to hate. In the old days it used to be businessmen," Bonilla said. "But actually lawyers have created a tremendous amount of economic opportunity for this region. Lawyers have provided needed reform in the areas of product liability."
   Among the reforms he mentioned were safer, more efficient vehicles, safer home appliances and the removal of dangerous prescription drugs from the market.
   "Businesses don't do a very good job of reforming themselves because it's an added cost of doing business. So they find it's better to play with an unsafe product than to cure the defect.
   "Consequently it takes lawyering, litigation and legislation, the Three L's, to come to a solution.
   "So it's really made America a safer nation and for that people should be grateful."
   Employers and taxpayers
   And there's a lot more to lawyering than personal injury, he points out. Businesses need lawyers to help them through the bureaucratic maze.
   And as increasingly free trade diminishes the borders between nations, lawyers who specialize in international trade will be at an increasing premium. It's an area that Bonilla says Frankie should consider.
   "Also, lawyers have very large payrolls. Between my brother Tony and me, we probably have a payroll of about 50. We pay a significant amount in payroll taxes, Social Security, property taxes. And we also pay competitive salaries. We expand sales tax revenue because our staff are consumers.
   "I've never heard of a Toys 'R Us retailer complaining about receiving a lawyer's money for toys. I've never heard the restaurant owner complain that, 'Well, that's lawyer money. I don't want that.'
   "We usually find that lawyers' money is a fairly transferable commodity. It's as green as everyone else's."
   Options galore
   Greener, actually, one might argue - though not as green as those who don't have it. No doubt Frankie would like to stimulate the economy in this lawyerly manner.
   But it's a long way from here to the bar exam and Frankie is still green. So he may find some other outlet for his talents, says local economics professor Bob McMinn, who wouldn't mind seeing him become an economics professor.
   "I would think that those skills are very useful in law. But I think they would also be useful in the New Economy.
   "I think that although this particular student may think about law school, he could also look into engineering, or economics or political science."
   Stay or go?
   But chances are, McMinn said, that Frankie will do his looking outside Corpus Christi.
   "Corpus Christi is a wonderful place to live, but it has a limited number of opportunities, particularly for graduate school graduates. That's not to say that this person won't become more successful and experienced someplace else and come back to Corpus Christi someday. But chances are he is not going to look for opportunities limited to Corpus Christi."
   McMinn doesn't buy into the oft-repeated complaint of a "brain drain" occurring when our top students leave.
   "We don't want to produce children who feel like they have to stay in Corpus Christi. We want to produce children who can go any place in the world but elect to stay in Corpus Christi or come back to Corpus Christi."
   Risks and rewards
   Frankie confirmed that he is not going to limit his search for opportunity to Corpus Christi. But he said he likes it here and would like to make a career here. He's aware that there's a perceived economic malaise going on now but he has youthful confidence in the city's future.
   "By the time I do graduate from high school and graduate from college and finish law school and come back to Corpus Christi, it'll be a great place to live. In 10 years, 15 years, it will be one of the places to be. I do have a lot of hope for Corpus Christi.
   "I think the main problem with our world today is people are not taking chances. The people who are, are getting ahead."
   No argument there.
  

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