With Steve on, that show was a prosecutor love-fest compared to our usual fare. I think I speak for the three of us when I say we love red meat. And Todd’s a mellow guy, no doubt.

It’s hard to hire lawyers who grew up in the 5th Ward. But it’s possible to hire lawyers (like Halpert) who had some real-world experience, rather than high school-college-law school. I’d look for lawyers who know something other than school. (The same applies to all sorts of lawyers — life experience makes us better — but most of us aren’t in a position to put the less fortunate in jail.)

The point of benefits is that $115k plus benefits (health insurance, retirement, vacation, no self-employment tax) is worth more like $150k in the real world.

This being America, we get rewarded for the risks we take. A criminal lawyer generally has to be a betting person, take risks, be a good businessperson, or at least be exceptionally lucky to make $150k.

There are a lot of criminal lawyers in town — I would wager the great majority — who don’t. Using me as a benchmark wouldn’t be fair because I’m exceptionally fortunate. (I also have a secret weapon.)

In any case, there are tradeoffs in the world.

You can get the security of a government income, benefits, and regular hours; and easily make a decent living while losing some measure of privacy.

Or you can go out on a limb and spend 13 years working hard, taking risks, answering the phone in the middle of the night, and having lots of stressful months when income doesn’t cover expenses; and if you’re lucky you wind up making a decent living while still being able to tell people, “how much I make is none of your damn business.”