Welcome, Former Prosecutors, to the Real World

 Posted on April 14,2008 in Uncategorized

Two recent news items, perhaps pertinent to the question of whether prosecutors lead more sheltered existences than self-employed lawyers:

In Searching for New Job, Gonzales Sees No Takers – New York Times

and

Law of Criminal Defense – And you think the economy sucks? Ask any criminal-defense lawyer

Let me sum up: former top prosecutor can't get a job (New York criminal-defense lawyer Scott Greenfield let him down gently), and criminal-defense lawyers are feeling the recession. (You don't come here to get sunshine blown up your nether regions, do you?)

Apropos of the second article, a month or so ago I asked my favorite felony court judge to allow my client to keep working at a bar while he was on probation. She said that he could for six months, after which he should plan to have a job not involving alcoholic beverages. I pointed out that, even in Houston, the economy wasn't doing so well and that he might not be able to find work, especially on felony probation. She scoffed at the idea that he might have any difficulty finding a job. I was reminded, for a moment, of Marie Antoinette.

We criminal-defense lawyers live fairly sheltered lives too, but we're a little bit closer to the ground than the prosecutors and judges. We, at least, spend enough time out of the bubble to know that for most of the people down at the courthouse eating cake is not an option.