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Comparing the legal skills of Atticus Finch, a fictional character, with those of a real-life historical figure, such as Abraham Lincoln, is an extraordinarily silly exercise. It's sort of like debating who would win a golf match between Tiger Woods and Superman (the correct answer, by the way, is Tiger Woods; Superman tends to overshoot the greens). Such disputes can never be settled for the obvious reason there's no way to put them to the test. Still, on this, the 50th anniversary of the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird, comparing the most famous cross-examinations of Atticus Finch and Abe Lincoln can teach us a good deal about the art of setting up impeachment during cross-examination.
The legal profession owes much to Harper Lee: Atticus Finch has probably done more for the image of lawyers than any actual flesh-and-blood lawyer, living or dead-with the possible exception, of course, of a fellow by the name of Abraham Lincoln. Loving father to Scout and Jem, liberalminded Renaissance man in the midst of cruel ignorance and bias, kind and courageous-Atticus was the lawyer many of us dreamed of becoming when we entered law school. Well, except maybe for the part about getting paid in turnip greens. And while there is a respectable revisionist view that casts Atticus in a somewhat less glowing light, as reflected by Malcolm Gladwell's article in The New Yorker, "The Courthouse Ring" (Aug. 10, 2009), for many of us, Atticus was the person we wanted to be when "we grew up."
Oh, and as an added bonus, he was a "kick ass" trial lawyer. Or was he?
How talented Atticus was as a litigator can only be judged by his defense of Tom Robinson, the strong, quiet, but immensely dignified black man falsely accused of beating and raping Mayella Ewell. We have no other examples of his trial work. The opposite is true, of course, for Abraham Lincoln: By the time he closed down his practice in the summer of 1860 to concentrate on campaigning, Lincoln had amassed a huge legal legacy spanning almost 25 years, including hundreds of trials. Yet, in the end, much like Atticus Finch and his defense of Tom, Lincoln's modern-day reputation as a lawyer largely comes down to...