From the category archives:

Law Practice

On Asine And The Role of Luck At Trial

June 7, 2010 Law Practice

A couple of years ago I was attending a formal luncheon with my parents and found myself seated next to what turned out to be one of the nation’s preeminent experts on ancient Greece.  I should tell you that, while I spent quite a bit of time in Greece as a youth, I can count [...]

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Attorney and Client, Passing In The Night

May 28, 2010 Law Practice

One of the major complaints clients had when I worked as a public defender was that, because the lawyers were shuffled around so much, the lawyer who ended up representing them at trial probably couldn’t have picked them out in a line-up the day after.
It was a valid complaint.
We may well have known every single [...]

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Flat Fees Versus Hourly Rates In A Criminal Case

May 25, 2010 Law Practice

There is no good way to charge for legal services, I am persuaded. Clients come in need. They are afraid and angry. They want a hero, a savior, a warrior. You offer them what you can. Most often it is enough. But sometimes it is not. A client grows disenchanted, angry, they want what you [...]

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The “No Papering” of a Criminal Offense in Washington, DC

May 24, 2010 Law Practice

If you have had the misfortune of being arrested in Washington, D.C, the words “no paper” should be about the most welcome thing you can hear.

The two words could mean that the prosecution has decided that you never should have been arrested to begin with.  More likely, they mean that the government has decided it [...]

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Six Months Into A Solo Criminal Law Practice

May 17, 2010 Law Marketing/Networking

Mark Bennett and Brian Tannebaum both announced last week that they have been practicing criminal law for 15 years.  While I have nowhere close to this level of experience, I recently celebrated an anniversary of my own. As of this past month, it has been six months since I opened my D.C. law office and [...]

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Unlawful Entry, Bench Warrants and the Dilemma of a Foreign Defendant

May 13, 2010 Law Practice

My client is in town on a business trip.  He goes out to dinner with some colleagues and, even though he is not accustomed to alcohol, he has a few drinks. The next thing he remembers is waking up in a jail cell.  After being charged with unlawful entry and released from custody, my client [...]

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Why Do My Favorite Cops Always Turn Out To Be The Crooked Ones?

May 11, 2010 Law Practice

I am walking with my kids at the Reading Terminal, an eatery just a couple of blocks from the courthouse in Philadelphia, when we come across a group of narcotics officers sitting in the eating area.  We have been watching “The Wire” on HBO, and I point out the officers out to my kids.  Look, [...]

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Starting Your Own Law Practice is a Leap of Faith

May 8, 2010 Law Marketing/Networking

In another lifetime, I wrote short stories. Five or six of these stories eventually found their way into obscure literary journals, with one or two still floating around somewhere on the Internet.  The largest circulation of any of the journals that published me was probably two or three thousand readers at the most.  With the [...]

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On Michael Malone and the Jeffrey MacDonald Case

May 2, 2010 Evidence

I have written a number of posts over the last couple of months about the Donald E. Gates case. As you will recall, Gates was convicted of a crime he did not commit and initially spent 16 years in jail in large part due to the false testimony of former FBI analyst Michael P. Malone.  [...]

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On the Effectiveness of Public Defenders, Court-Appointed Lawyers, and Privately Retained Counsel

April 29, 2010 Law Practice

There has been a lot of discussion recently about ineffective assistance of counsel. Gideon, Mark Bennett, Scott Greenfield, and Jeff Gamso have all done interesting pieces that are worth reading. The effectiveness of public defenders came up during this discussion, and, as regular readers of this blog know, I can never resist the opportunity to [...]

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