Balkinization: Have You Received This "Honor"?

Have You Received This "Honor"?

Brian Tamanaha

Imagine the pride I felt when I received the following letter:

Dear Professor Tamanaha,

On behalf of the Board of Directors, we are pleased to inform you that you have been selected to become a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Membership in The Fellows is a great honor and your selection recognizes your leadership in and contribution to the legal profession….The New York Fellows conduct monthly luncheons in New York City, and sponsor lectures and informal gatherings around the state….A number of leaders in the ABA and other professional associations participate in the New York Fellows.
….

The letter was signed by seven legal luminaries, including a former Dean of Columbia Law School and two prominent law professors at area schools. The accompanying list of current Fellows has many impressive names.

I was honored that my work had been recognized in this way.

Okay, there was a small catch in the final paragraph:

You will receive a formal invitation and pledge card in the mail shortly. Accepting this invitation requires a tax-deductible contribution of $250 per year for ten years.

That’s a sizable amount of money for me—$2500 over ten years—but not an undue sum, I thought, given the honor and opportunity to be a part of this select group. And I contemplated asking the Dean whether the law school would make the payments on my behalf, given that it was a professional achievement.

Imagine my bemusement when I discovered, several days later, that a bunch of people on our faculty (perhaps nearly everyone above a certain age?) had received the same “honor,” including at least one person who has not published or engaged in any professional activities (other than teaching) in many years.

Although I cannot say for sure, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that this letter is nothing more than a deceptive solicitation for contributions (that's certainly what we suspect). I say deceptive because the letter, and the entire package it came with, is written and designed in a manner that gives a clear impression that the recipient has done something special to earn this recognition. It appeals to the ego and insecurities of law professors, many of whom perpetually wonder whether anyone pays attention to their work (making us easy targets for this kind of pitch.). It uses the term "Fellow," which is a genuine honor in academic circles. [It would be especially devious if they intentionally sent the letter during the summer knowing that most professors would not be around, and so would not learn that this was a liberally bestowed honor.]

If this is indeed a deception, it is beneath the dignity of the American Bar Foundation. The ABF supports important research on the legal profession. Some of the best books I have read on the subject have been funded by the ABF. I respect and admire people at the ABF. Indeed, I have thought about developing a relationship with the ABF in connection with a future research project (though I guess this post puts an end to that prospect). If the ABF wants contributions, it should say so directly, not send out letters based on a pretense.

I hope I am wrong about this.

Posted 3:40 PM by Brian Tamanaha [link]

Comments:

Being the humble introvert that I am, Prof. Tamanaha, I have to repeatedly turn down the invites I get to submit my biography/CV to the folks who put out the all-important and seminal reference work "Who's Who In Amateur Underwater Photograpers Who Never Finished Law School" (along with a cheque for several copies of such to place on our coffee table and impress our house guests). ;-)

Cheers,

# posted by

Arne Langsetmo : 4:18 PM

Arne,

You are right to point out that there are a bunch of these "appeal to the ego" scams (How many "who's Who" books are out there?). I suspect it is a great way to raise money. My specific disappointment is that the ABF would stoop to this (though again, I might be wrong).

Brian

# posted by

Brian Tamanaha : 4:27 PM

$250 per year is a sizable amount of money for you? Pleeeze!

# posted by

NAL : 4:33 PM

If you prefer to otherwise immortalize your name, I hear that the International Star Registry will put your name on a star and register it (in book form) with the U.S. Copyright Office for only $54.00 and a visit to starregistry.com.

[unsnark]Actually, this sounds similar to the sponsorship levels you can achieve when donating to public television, but there you usually also get the DVD of Loretta LaRoche's stress management seminars. There is at least a hint of deception in the presentation, as they try to focus on the title, not the charitable donation that they are after.[resume snark]

Please remember that the value of your tax deduction is reduced by the value of any premiums you may receive. Based on your description, I can only imagine the value of adding Fellow, ABF after your name, so you would likely get the full value of your charitable contribution.

# posted by

Fraud Guy : 4:47 PM

Here is a link to the Fellows website--it sounds legit.

http://fellows.abfn.org/index.html

As for me, I would never belong to a club that would accept the likes of me as a member

# posted by

Adam : 4:49 PM

Here's the political version:

The call starts with flattery: You have been named businessman of the year, or physician of the year, or state chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee's Business Advisory Council.

Then comes the fundraising hook: a request for as much as $500 to help pay for a full-page Wall Street Journal advertisement, then a request for $5,000 to reserve a seat at a banquet thrown in your honor. Can't handle that? How about $1,250 for the no-frills package?

# posted by

Unknown : 4:50 PM

NAL,

You're right. That was an exaggeration, though I don't earn enough to write checks for $250 for ten years without hesitation.

Again, my main objection was to the deception. I guess the point of the responses is that this kind of pitch is normal today, so there is no reason to take it poorly.

Should I apologize for calling out the ABF?

Brian

# posted by

Brian Tamanaha : 5:29 PM

Prof. Tamanaha:

Should I apologize for calling out the ABF?

By no means, perfesser. As Judith Martin (a/k/a "Miss Manners") would say, "Just because poor manners has become commonplace is no excuse for your own indulgence". You should call them on this scam (as evident from the seemingly cheap universality of the bestowed "honour"). If they want money, the polite thing is to ask for it. And then, if they see fit, then can acknowledge you for that if they'd like, with some appropriate 'honourific' (like, you know, "charter member" or "lifetime supporter"....)

Cheers,

# posted by

Arne Langsetmo : 5:59 PM

What idiots! Everyone knows that you ask for all the money upfront and don't send the notice to everyone. This would have been more successful if they had asked for $2500 for 10 years and just send it to 10% of your fellow dupes each year.

Anyway, this is a great trick: hey, you can open your wallet and give me money. I'll kiss you ass and say nice things about you in public.

Personally I can't even get my wife to do that. That's the clue.

# posted by

rmadilo : 6:36 PM

To add to Fraud Guy's alternate immortalization schemes, perhaps you could start your own law blog...call it...Tamanahawk...or Tamanawannablogya. (Please don't be offended. I am merely making a play on Professor Balkin's choice for his blog name.)

-- The Casual Observer

# posted by

Unknown : 8:32 PM

I think that membership is a genuine honor. Membership is limited to 1/3 of 1 percent of the bar and requires nomination by an existing member and election (at least in NJ) by the existing membership. In my (limited) experience, it is not unusual for a lawyer to be nominated but fail of election.

I don't know about the NY chapter, but in NJ, the fellows are among the most prominent members of the bench and bar. They get together twice a year for dinner.

The fellows tend, however, to be light on academics. If NY works the way that NJ does, I suspect that what may have happened with you and your colleagues is that some existing fellow (perhaps an alum of St. Johns) thought that the fellows could use some academics (perhaps particularly from St. Johns).

As an academic, I try to attend these dinners as one way of maintaining social contact with the bench and bar.

# posted by

NJ law prof : 7:21 AM