“I have said I have no quarrel with the intellect. These words were born of it. I simply do not wish the head to rule every aspect of the human experience, nor feelings to be reduced to some unsavory attachment to the person, something akin to original sin. Moreover, I am not a fan of […]
The Court of Public Opinion rules ex parte with no hope of an appeal. It has no rules of evidence or procedure, no requisite standard of proof, no right to confront witnesses, no meaningful ability to present evidence, and no appellate review. Yet, its ruling is immediate and often final. It happens everyday: a newsworthy accusation […]
No criminal defense lawyer can avoid it. Friends, family, and even strangers ask it. We dread it. But we must answer it: “Why do you defend them?” * * * There are many answers. See Defending the Guilty by Barbara A. Babcock or How Can You Represent Those People? by Abbe Smith and Monroe H. Freedman. […]
“We are not final because we are infallible, but we are infallible only because we are final.” -Justice Robert H. Jackson
“Cross-examination is the greatest legal engine ever invented for the discovery of truth. You can do anything with a bayonet except sit on it. A lawyer can do anything with cross-examination if he is skillful enough not to impale his own cause upon it.” -John H. Wigmore
1) The most important and necessary quality for a trial lawyer is the ability to communicate. 2) Although there have been and are many excellent evidence teachers, many of their colleagues have been a detriment to trial advocacy. 3) Always have three things. “I have said it trice: What I tell you three times is […]
“Once I decide to take a case, I have only one agenda: I want to win. I will try, by every fair and legal means, to get my client off–without regard to the consequences.” -Alan Dershowitz
“In the law there is a presumption of innocence. It is a legal concept, not a moral one. I defend my clients from legal guilt. Moral judgments I leave to the majestic vengeance of God.” -Edward Bennett Williams
“I consider trial by jury as the only anchor ever yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution.” -Thomas Jefferson
