Anger and Fear

Jon Katz writes about Giving Unpleasant People the Benefit of the Doubt. His message is that we should seek to eliminate anger by eliminating fear. As Paladin said, “Never draw in anger. It slows the hand.”
Jon tells a Zen story as an example of a life lived without fear:
A man is chased in the wilderness [...]

Dude, Where’s My Client?

The last time I visited with Oscar he had decided to plead guilty. Yesterday I went to see him again to tell him that the plea was set for Friday, and to explain how the plea would transpire.
At the detention center, a Bureau-of-Prisons-run facility, I filled out the usual paperwork and handed it over [...]

Why We Poll the Jury

A jury verdict in a criminal case is not really a single verdict. It’s actually twelve (six in a misdemeanor) individual verdicts. It is important that jurors realize that each of them is personally and individually responsible for the verdict; the majority doesn’t rule.
“Beyond a reasonable doubt” is a very personal standard; nobody can [...]

Have Fun

I wrote yesterday about What About Clients’s Rule 1, “Represent only clients you like,” and my doubt that it can apply to a criminal practice.
Also yesterday, WAC posted his Rule 12 — a rule with which I wholeheartedly agree: Have fun.
It’s supposed to be fun. American law is extremely varied, elastic and constantly presenting new [...]

Freedom vs. Safety vs. Charity

Malum in Se asked, Is an ADA Really Worth More than an APD? This had me thinking about what relative prosecutor and PD salaries say about society’s priorities.
I wrote here about the relative salaries of ADAs and private defense lawyers reflecting the greater value we place on freedom than on safety. I think that the [...]

Like Clients?

Dan Hull, in his What about Clients? blog (a good question, and a good blog; his blogroll includes many blogs from outside the U.S.), lists 12 Rules of Client Service. I agree with Dan’s twelve rules 91.66%. But his Rule 1, “Represent only clients you like,” is one that I’m not sure criminal lawyers can [...]

Impending Trials

I have five jury trials set in the next five weeks. Do you know how to try five cases in five weeks? The same way you eat an elephant: one bite at a time.
First up is a misdemeanor possession of marijuana case, next week, in which the state intends to use a dope dealing snitch [...]

Statements or Questions

English Barrister Simon Myerson commented on my recent post about Racehorse Haynes’s cross-examination of the government’s snitch witness in a murder case.
Simon has a very interesting blog: Pupillage And How To Get It. I’m not entirely clear on the concept of pupillage; it appears that it’s something like an apprenticeship — in order to become [...]

Mencken on Government

Government is actually the worst failure of civilized man. There has never been a really good one, and even those that are most tolerable are arbitrary, cruel, grasping, and unintelligent.
H. L. Mencken

Ghostblawging OK?

Ed, whose LawBiz Blog I have been scouring for good practice management ideas, says it’s okay for a lawyer to have a ghostwriter write her blog. Here are a few of his reasons:
* Blogging of the nature under discussion is created for marketing purposes. If not, we wouldn’t be concerned about search engine placement.
* [...]

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