June 20, 2026 — Few books have influenced my view of the legal profession more than Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. While it is often remembered as a classic story about race, justice, and moral courage, I have always seen it as a powerful example of what an attorney should strive to be. Yes, perhaps it is cliché for an attorney to say this, but I will: the character of Atticus Finch represents an ideal that has stayed with me throughout my career. Here at my law firm, we keep a copy of the book on the mantel as a reminder of its message – a reminder to never forget what we as attorneys are supposed to do.
Atticus is willing to take on a difficult and unpopular case because it is the right thing to do. He understands that doing what is just does not always earn approval from the community around him. Instead, he demonstrates that true character is revealed when a person stands firm in their principles despite criticism, pressure, or opposition. The image of Atticus sitting in front of the jail, protecting his client with his own life, calls us to a higher standard. What would we do to defend our client and to defend the rule of law? For lawyers, that lesson remains as important today as it was when the book was first published.
Growing up in a small town, I developed an appreciation for the challenges people face when they take positions that are unpopular or misunderstood. Small communities can be incredibly supportive, but they can also create pressure to conform. One of my first jobs as an attorney was working as a clerk in the Public Defender’s Office in Sussex County, Delaware. While working in that job, I would sit in the “lock-up” with my boss and his clients, discussing their cases, negotiating plea agreements. The Sussex County Courthouse could have been a stand-in for the Alabama county courthouse in To Kill a Mockingbird.
I remember asking my boss whether he felt right defending some of the people that he was required to defend? He told me that he was literally the only thing keeping the full weight of the State from crushing every client he was appointed to represent. No, he didn’t believe that all of his clients were angels. Instead, he knew that each of them had a right to counsel, each had a right to be defended. When I became an attorney, I had to take the same oath that my boss had taken decades earlier, promising that I would “behave myself in the office of an attorney within the Court according to the best of my learning and ability and with all good fidelity, as well to the Court as to the client ….” All good fidelity, both to the Court and to the client.
To Kill a Mockingbird captures that reality in a way that is both honest and timeless. It reminds readers that courage is not the absence of fear or criticism — it is the willingness to act despite them. The legal profession is at its best when lawyers advocate for those who need a voice, defend the rule of law, and approach every case with integrity. Those ideals continue to inspire me, and they are a significant reason why this book remains one of my favorites.
To Kill a Mockingbird’s lessons about courage, fairness, dignity, and justice are just as relevant today as they were decades ago. It is a story that challenges us to be better people — and for those of us in the legal profession, better advocates as well.
Ted Kittila, Attorney at Law 