Law Practice

Sometimes A Guilty Verdict Is a Win (At Least That Is What I Tell Myself)

September 13, 2011 Firearms/Weapons

Although Virginia juries have a reputation for being unforgiving, I have also been told that juries in Prince William County can be pretty unpredictable. Going into trial yesterday, my client was facing a mandatory 5-year sentence for being a violent felon in possession of a firearm. During execution of a search warrant at his home, [...]

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On Hoopties and Shell Stations: The Benefits of Visiting a Crime Scene

July 22, 2011 Evidence

Yet another benefit to private practice – as opposed to being a public defender – is that you have more time for investigations. Wayne, my investigator, actually handles most of my on-scene investigations. As a former cop, he knows what he is doing. He has a great way with clients and witnesses. He also knows [...]

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Charm School for Civil Litigators

June 29, 2011 Law Practice

Civil litigators give the rest of us lawyers a bad name. My wife is a civil litigator, and the day-to-day unpleasantness quotient is a whole lot higher in her life than mine. Fortunately she is immune to it, with a Bill Clinton-like ability to compartmentalize her life. It has also been interesting to watch some [...]

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Jeff Gamso on the Role of a Criminal Defense Attorney

June 21, 2011 Criminal Law Bloggers

I have written before about the apparently never-ending discussion on the ABA listserv Solosez about the proper role for a criminal defense attorney. In responding to the latest thread, Jeff Gamso put it about as well as I have ever seen it. Next topic? NO! NO! NO! Your job is not to make the state [...]

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Life at the Prince William County Courthouse

May 26, 2011 Law Practice

We are in the cafeteria of the Prince William County courthouse in Virgina, at lunch during what is expected to be a one-day jury trial. At a table behind me is a judge holding forth to a group of young people. He speaks. The young people lean forward and laugh, and I think of something [...]

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Thanking A Higher Power AND Your Attorney

April 21, 2011 Law Practice

Public defenders and court-appointed attorneys are used to getting very little thanks for the work they do. You only value something you need to pay for and, as someone else put it in a different context, if the client wins the case, he was obviously innocent to begin with and never needed your help anyway. [...]

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More on Joseph Rakofsky: The Story Keeps Getting Worse

April 10, 2011 Current Events

“We really didn’t check him out. He said he was this and could do that. We thought he was telling the truth.” — Henrietta Watson, grandmother of defendant Dontrell Deaner The blogosphere has been abuzz the past week with the story of Joseph Rakofsky, a 33-year-old lawyer two years out of law school who took [...]

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On The Perils of Relying on Headnotes

March 24, 2011 Law Practice

I did a preliminary hearing this afternoon on an aggravated assault case. Not surprisingly, the key issue was the definition of serious bodily injury. During argument, the prosecutor cited a case that, from the headnotes, appeared to support his position. The judge and I both looked up the case at the bar of the court. [...]

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Notes on a Lost Trial

March 3, 2011 Law Practice

Eleven months of wrangling comes to this: a two-day trial in D.C. Superior Court. The argument on pre-trial motions starts out well, and I find myself in the enviable position of sitting on the sidelines as the judge goes back and forth with the prosecutor. It is usually a good idea to stop talking when [...]

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