On this Thanksgiving Day, let’s be honest and straightforward for a moment — lawyers can be awfully defensive about the type of work we do. Indeed, some lawyers and judges are offended by the notion of "lawyer jokes".  I can vividly recall a speech given by then-Connecticut Supreme Court Justice William Sullivan at an Annual Meeting of the Connecticut Bar Association six years ago when he told the audience that lawyers need to put an end to lawyer jokes.

We need to take pride not only in the profession, but in all its members. We need to take an active role in helping and encouraging our newest attorneys. We need to consciously reduce the level of antagonism that legal arguments incorporate. We need to enhance, not detract from the profession as a whole. We need to speak up – civilly – when those outside the profession unfairly attack and criticize. We need to make the public aware that the art of negotiation, not confrontation, is central to us . . . That mediation often best reflects the wisdom that lawyers have learned through experience. We need to stop being agreeable to the telling of those insufferable lawyer jokes.

If that’s the case, what should we make out of this sing-a-long song by Mark Toth, Chief Legal Officer of Manpower?