I Don't Want To Be A Criminal Attorney Afterall
I had grown up wanting to be a lawyer. When I entered law school my plan was to become a criminal attorney. That changed after my first DUI defense. I went to a small law school. It was accredited in that I was able to sit for the bar exam once I graduated. But it was not American Bar Association accredited. I went to a small law school not ABA accredited because for one reason my grades were not good enough to get into a larger more well known school. And I was already in my mid twenties and had a full time job so I needed a flexible class schedule.
I had grown up wanting to be a lawyer. When I entered law school my plan was to become a criminal attorney. That changed after my first DUI defense. I went to a small law school. It was accredited in that I was able to sit for the bar exam once I graduated. But it was not American Bar Association accredited. I went to a small law school not ABA accredited because for one reason my grades were not good enough to get into a larger more well known school. And I was already in my mid twenties and had a full time job so I needed a flexible class schedule.
But going to a small unaccredited law school also meant the government would not be quick to offer me a position either. But I only wanted to graduate so I could take the bar exam. I figures I could think later about finding a lawyer job.
The best place, if not the only practical place to get experience as a criminal attorney is either with the district attorney's office or the office of the public defender. But again, government jobs were handed out to large ABA accredited law school graduates. I did have the opportunity to interview for one position with the public defenders office however. The state had lifted a hiring freeze. For the previous year the state was not even interviewing anyone for government legal jobs regardless of what school you were from. In interviewed and received an 88 out of a 100 on the interview. I knew this was not good enough to get the one and only job opening with all the competition out there.
Three days later I got a letter explaining the hiring freeze was back on. The position was not even filled before the freeze was on again. The next day I enrolled in a course on DUI law practice. I had not gone to school to defend drunk drivers but it was a part of criminal law.
I put a small advertisement in the local shopper offering my services to those who needed help with their DUI charge. My phone rang non-stop it seemed for three days. I went to court the following week with my first client in the court house across the street from where I had graduated from college. I had never been in one of the court rooms I thought as I was parking my car.
There was no defense to my client's charge. As my DUI class instructor said sometimes lawyers are there simply to hold their client's hand in court. That was my job. But I wanted to go through the steps just the same. I walked over to the district attorney's desk. She was chatting with the female bailiff.
Finally when they were done the female bailiff looked me up and down turned her nose up and walked off. I asked the female deputy district attorney to confirm the charges and asked what would be the sentence she would agree to. This is what I learned in my class. She organized her files on the desk and without looking at me said you can find that out from the judge when we get started.
The female judge treated me with respect and even smiled when she talked to me. I assumed she came up the ranks of the public defenders office. The bailiff and the deputy district attorney made me feel like I was on trial however. Since it was my client's first offense he was given the minimum penalty. He had his license suspended for one year. But I was able to have him able to drive legally if he was going to and from work and while at work since his job required that he drive. But that was my first and last criminal court case. I realized as criminal attorney I had to expect to be treated like the one who was on trial. And that is not what I expected and not what I want in my career.
I had grown up wanting to be a lawyer. When I entered law school my plan was to become a criminal attorney. That changed after my first DUI defense. I went to a small law school. It was accredited in that I was able to sit for the bar exam once I graduated. But it was not American Bar Association accredited. I went to a small law school not ABA accredited because for one reason my grades were not good enough to get into a larger more well known school. And I was already in my mid twenties and had a full time job so I needed a flexible class schedule.
But going to a small unaccredited law school also meant the government would not be quick to offer me a position either. But I only wanted to graduate so I could take the bar exam. I figures I could think later about finding a lawyer job.
The best place, if not the only practical place to get experience as a criminal attorney is either with the district attorney's office or the office of the public defender. But again, government jobs were handed out to large ABA accredited law school graduates. I did have the opportunity to interview for one position with the public defenders office however. The state had lifted a hiring freeze. For the previous year the state was not even interviewing anyone for government legal jobs regardless of what school you were from. In interviewed and received an 88 out of a 100 on the interview. I knew this was not good enough to get the one and only job opening with all the competition out there.
Three days later I got a letter explaining the hiring freeze was back on. The position was not even filled before the freeze was on again. The next day I enrolled in a course on DUI law practice. I had not gone to school to defend drunk drivers but it was a part of criminal law.
I put a small advertisement in the local shopper offering my services to those who needed help with their DUI charge. My phone rang non-stop it seemed for three days. I went to court the following week with my first client in the court house across the street from where I had graduated from college. I had never been in one of the court rooms I thought as I was parking my car.
There was no defense to my client's charge. As my DUI class instructor said sometimes lawyers are there simply to hold their client's hand in court. That was my job. But I wanted to go through the steps just the same. I walked over to the district attorney's desk. She was chatting with the female bailiff.
Finally when they were done the female bailiff looked me up and down turned her nose up and walked off. I asked the female deputy district attorney to confirm the charges and asked what would be the sentence she would agree to. This is what I learned in my class. She organized her files on the desk and without looking at me said you can find that out from the judge when we get started.
The female judge treated me with respect and even smiled when she talked to me. I assumed she came up the ranks of the public defenders office. The bailiff and the deputy district attorney made me feel like I was on trial however. Since it was my client's first offense he was given the minimum penalty. He had his license suspended for one year. But I was able to have him able to drive legally if he was going to and from work and while at work since his job required that he drive. But that was my first and last criminal court case. I realized as criminal attorney I had to expect to be treated like the one who was on trial. And that is not what I expected and not what I want in my career.
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