Joining the Adult CJA Panel in D.C.
I have just been appointed to the D.C. Superior Court panel for adult court-appointed cases. I was one of three lawyers appointed on a “provisional” basis. (Three other lawyers were promoted from the provisional panel to the full… Read More
Effective <---> Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
I am doing a court-appointed criminal appeal, and I am cranky with the defense lawyer who tried the case. He won’t return my phone calls. He won’t send me the trial file. I have no idea why he… Read More
Solo Practitioners Don’t Have A Jackie Frankfurt
We had a tremendous support network at the public defender’s office in Philadelphia. There were social workers and mental health professionals. There were administrative staff focusing on probation, parole, and the expungement of criminal records. If you had… Read More
Eliminate Adverbs. Improve Your Writing.
We all have our pet peeves when it comes to the English language. I had an English teacher in college who offered a $1 million reward to anyone who could find a single instance in which use of… Read More
On the Satisfaction of Doing Criminal Appeals
During the second semester of my senior year in college, I submitted a paper for my English class that was three-quarters of a page long. It was my last assignment for a class I was taking pass/fail and… Read More
Delivering the News in an Appellate Case
I call my court-appointed client in an appellate case to give him the news. Although I know many things about this man, I have never actually met him. Up until recently he has been serving time in an… Read More
Using An Ellipsis To Misrepresent Language
You have to be honest with the court. Your client’s fate depends on it. So does your reputation. It is one of the first things we learn in ethics class. MPD General Order 601.02 reads as follows: Members… Read More
Legal Writing As Poetry
One of my sister’s creative writing teachers told her once that you figure out the line you like best in the piece you have written. And then you delete it. The chances are good that you have over-invested… Read More
Ready for DUI/DWI Appeals in D.C.
It is amazing to me there aren’t more appellate DUI/DWI decisions in D.C. Yes, a recent case – Taylor v. District of Columbia – dealt with the legal definition of impairment. Beyond that, however, there are few cases in… Read More
Mindy Daniels, My Reluctant Mentor
She doesn’t know it yet but Mindy Daniels is going to be my mentor on all things having to do with the D.C. Court of Appeals. One of the first things I do whenever I start out in… Read More
