Austin criminal-defense lawyer Jamie Spencer's blog post on the arrest of a counterfeiter's victim reminded me of several similar forged-instrument cases I have handled. In the most egregious one "Charles" advertised some mechanical parts for sale on eBay. The high bidder sent him a cashier's check for more than the value of the parts, and asked Charles to send the balance of the money along with the

A civil lawyer would not -- should not -- be satisfied if his client received procedural justice but did not receive (what the lawyer considered) substantive justice. A criminal lawyer would not -- should not -- be satisfied if his client received (what anyone considered) substantive justice but did not receive procedural justice. A civil lawyer fights on behalf of a human being for what the lawyer

Here's a fairly cogent explanation from non-defender Randy E. Barnett of why defense lawyers should keep fighting even for people who aren't factually innocent. The meat of it is this: Criminal lawyers are constantly asked how they can live with themselves defending those guilty of serious crimes. The full and complete answer ought to be that, because we can never be sure who is guilty and who

When people talk about "defending the innocent" or "defending the guilty" they're talking about factual guilt -- did the person do what he's accused of doing? -- rather than legal innocence or guilt -- has the government proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did what he's accused of doing (and that no defenses apply)? The distinction is crucial to an understanding of how and why

"Mark, I have a lawyer, and she's not doing anything for me. I need a new lawyer." Sometimes the stuff that we lawyers are doing is not immediately apparent to our clients or, for that matter, to anyone. Lots of the work to be done on a criminal case -- legal research, fact investigation, negotiation -- is subtle, and doesn't make much noise. The job that a

I haven't done a very good job of using nonsexist language here. Technorati Tags: language

Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.-George Washington Technorati Tags: government, philosophy

Legendary Houston criminal-defense lawyer Percy Foreman reputedly said, "You can represent your client, or you can represent yourself." This should be every criminal-defense lawyer's prime directive: help the client. When we have professional decisions to make, we should always ask ourselves: "how will it help my clients?" Some might argue that it is necessary for a lawyer to put his own interests above the client's on at

A potential client called me this morning (Sunday). He had been to a strip club last night, and today a guy called him (from a caller-ID-blocked number) claiming to be from the human resources department of the club. The guy said that one of the dancers had complained that the potential client had sexually assaulted her. He wanted the potential client to meet him today at noon,

In an earlier post I mentioned lawyers who use former clients' names in their advertising. Today I stumbled upon a post that Florida public defender Albert Clifford wrote on Ethical Blogging back in February. He wrote (in part): I represent poor people who have no choice in their selection of me. I try to keep them happy with their decision, thus I don't think that I should