Crimes Prosecutor to Products Defense
TL grew up in ‘the hood’, learning how to fight bullies while working hard in school. TL’s varied life experiences helped him gain self-confidence toward presenting himself as a believable and persuasive advocate for his clients in the courtroom. Had he joined a neighborhood gang instead of learning to co-exist, his story would have been much different.
FAMILY BACKGROUND
TL’s father had the ‘looks’ (picture Mohammed Ali in his prime boxing days) and strong, charismatic personality of a “man’s man.” While his father tried one semester of college, he “hated it” but always worked hard at a succession of primary jobs – laborer, trolley driver, ‘jack of all trades’ and one of the earliest Black police officers in a major East Coast city run by a ‘hard-nosed’ White Mayor.
In addition to occasionally moving from one full-time day job to another, TL’s dad always found ‘side’ jobs to keep himself busy and earn extra money for his family – involving such manual skills as carpet cleaning, carpentry, plumbing and heating.
As the oldest child and only boy among the two siblings, TL was often (involuntarily) ‘recruited’ by his father to help with his side jobs, causing TL to unhappily miss playing with his friends many days after school and on weekends.
If TL’s father was proud that his son shared the same strong-willed personality trait, he never showed any such appreciation. Father and son had frequent arguments, with the son learning to express himself but never able to be persuasive in any disagreement with his father.
TL’s mother was a college educated schoolteacher. As calm as her husband was not, TL’s mother was the mediator between father and son.
Neither parent ever specifically recommended a career path for TL. Their only advice: study hard in school, choose work you like to do and then learn how to do it well.
While TL had no direct parental influence toward an adult career path, observing his parents’ daily hard work was certainly an indirect influence.
CHILDHOOD THOUGHTS OF AN ADULT CAREER ARE NEVER A COMMITMENT
For no reason TL can now recall, his first childhood thought of an adult career was to be an architect.
CHALLENGE – GETTING ALONG IN DIFFERENT CULTURES
During TL’s student days from elementary through high school, many of the city’s youth were members of different gangs. Often the gangs clashed, involving serious violence and occasionally death. TL was never a gang member but had to learn to co-exist with all the different gang members in his area, some of whom knew that he was the son of a cop, a good student in school and an athlete (a track team member but admittedly without sufficient speed to win school races.)
TL’s commute to his school, via different public buses, crossed through different gang territories. While riding a bus or transferring from one bus to another, TL was often closely questioned by gang members about his possible membership in rival gangs. Since TL knew he lacked enough speed to run from gang pressure, he also knew that he had to learn how to fight the bullies – with his fists during occasional neighborhood incidents which amounted to punching, pushing, and wrestling events while the two combatants were encircled by the crowd of youths. The goal was to be declared the winner without seriously injuring – or being injured by – your opponent.
While using his physical strength to fend off the bullies and earn the respect of the gangs, TL also used his ‘smarts’ to cope with their presence as he moved ahead with his life as a serious school student, never trying to show himself as someone on a path toward a more successful adult career than wherever the bullies were headed.
COLLEGE ‘CHOICE’ MAY NOT BE A ‘CHOICE’
TL’s mother influenced his early school choices, helping to arrange for TL to attend the city’s best available public schools for academic learning. When it came time for TL to decide about college, the question was neither whether to apply (TL and his parents shared his goal to attend college) nor where to apply because they told TL: “You can attend any college you want, as long as it’s the same one mom graduated from and where dad tried it for a semester!”
While already a strong-willed young man, TL decided that the path of least argument with his parents was to accept their choice, though it included no financial contribution from his parents, who were unable to afford paying any of TL’s college costs: tuition, room and board and books, all which TL paid for through student loans and side jobs during and between school sessions.
STRONG WORK ETHIC AIDS SUCCESS IN ANY CAREER
While in high school and often helping with his father’s part-time jobs, TL worked at several side jobs – cashier in a drug store for minimal hourly wage plus access to the store’s ice cream while on breaks; ‘go-for’ in a delicatessen for minimal pay plus access to the store’s hoagies; simonizing neighborhood cars (polishing one car took essentially a full day).
The combination of TL’s side jobs earned enough money for his personal expenses away from home since his parents could not afford such luxuries as regular allowances for TL or even to cover his student expenses beyond basic clothing and food consumed at home.
ADULT CAREER PATH MAY REQUIRE EDUCATION BEYOND COLLEGE
When TL enrolled in college, he had no adult career goal beyond taking a few courses which would be helpful if he decided to work toward becoming an architect. But while the nation was absorbed in television coverage of the impeachment of President Richard Nixon arising out of the “Watergate Scandal” TL was mesmerized watching witnesses being questioned by a lawyer turned legislator (U.S. Senator Sam Ervin, whose Southern drawl and grandfatherly appearance hid a sharp mind and persistent focus) who had obviously perfected the art of cross examination of witnesses despite their attempts to evade the truth.
Declared TL silently to himself: “That’s what I want to do – be in a courtroom, questioning witnesses, talking to a jury.”
Realizing that he would have to graduate with a solid academic record to qualify for admission to a law school, TL tackled his college courses even harder than he had worked in high school.
During his early college years, TL routinely achieved excellent grades, so he briefly considered transferring to a more academically challenging college but eventually decided to remain, graduating with an A average, ranking 45th out of his class of 300.
LAW SCHOOL
Based on his college GPA and class rank plus a high score on the LSAT (law school aptitude test), TL applied to three of the dozen, nationally top-rated law schools, achieving acceptances at each. He chose to attend the law school located closest to his home area, paying all expenses himself through student loans and summer jobs.
Law students attending day classes typically require three full academic years to complete all the required courses. After the second year, students usually seek summer internships to help them, and prospective employers decide upon a career path following third year graduation and passing the chosen state’s licensing exam (known as the “Bar Exam”).
Having completed his second year of law school, TL signed up for summer intern interviews with a variety of businesses seeking to hire and train law students. One such business was a large city’s District Attorney’s office – lawyers responsible for prosecuting all crimes involving state and city laws, ranging from relatively minor misdemeanors with no prison possibility to felonies leading to lengthy prison sentences.
CHALLENGE – JOB INTERVIEW WITH THE WRONG INITIAL FOCUS
When TL was unexpectedly greeted by a senior prosecutor standing on crutches while TL was knocking on random doors within the complex of the District Attorney’s office to find his interview room, TL’s focus was first drawn to the area of the missing leg of the man on crutches. After what seemed like too many long seconds, TL realized that he should stop looking down but instead, raise his gaze to the face of the man, who was inviting TL to come into his office.
The man introduced himself as Ron Castille, who TL immediately recognized as the District Attorney, a war hero who had lost one of his legs in combat.
Thinking that his initial awkward focus had likely defeated his opportunity to be hired as a summer intern, TL was encouraged that the D.A. seemed friendly as they discussed TL’s upbringing in the city and his good academic background. It was obviously not the first time someone had stared at the area of the D.A.’s missing leg so apparently the D.A. had not commenced their conversation with any negative thoughts about TL.
Whether a bit of luck (the D.A. and TL had attended the same law school) was involved in helping them to form an early bond, may never be known since TL’s academic record and personality (often described by fellow attorneys as “easy going with intelligent focus” and “self-confident yet humble”) well qualified him for employment as a prospective litigator.
The next step in the District Attorney’s office hiring process involved TL being questioned by ten different, experienced prosecutors – at times it seemed as if each of them was firing questions at him at the same time. Looking back, TL appreciates that they were trying to create a real-life scenario to mirror what often happens in a courtroom, to assess TL’s ability to deal with stress and chaos while keeping his composure.
The part of TL’s personality which reflects his humility led to him conclude that he had performed poorly during the interview. Fortunately, the other part of TL’s personality: his native ‘smarts’ and self-confidence were more apparent to his cross examiners.
TL was immediately offered acceptance for the D.A.’s summer intern program, which provided experience guided by excellent mentors within preliminary hearings, appeals and municipal court for misdemeanor trials. At the end of the summer, TL had earned compliments from judges and his supervising attorney prosecutors, which led to an offer – immediately accepted because “I had now fallen in love with being a prosecutor” – for full-time employment following TL’s graduation after his final year of law school.
With a job commitment already in hand, TL concedes that he ‘goofed off’ during the next school semester -the first half of his third year – but then realized he owed it to himself and to the confidence his future prosecuting co-workers had shown in him, to maintain his academic discipline so he devoted himself to studying harder during his final semester of law school and preparation to pass the state’s Bar Exam, which he accomplished on his first try.
FIRST CAREER PATH – PROSECUTOR
TL’s journey to the courtroom followed the usual path to train young prosecutors: a rotation of experiences gained during stints with the appeals unit, municipal court for misdemeanor trials, felony waivers, felony jury trials and the career criminal unit.
Prosecutors such as TL are routinely in the courtroom, presenting witnesses and evidence involving such crimes as:
* Car hijacking
* Child abuse / neglect
* Aggravated assault
* Armed robbery
* Repeat offender drunk driving
* Rape
* Homicide
SECOND CAREER PATH – DEFENSE OF TOXIC TORT CLAIMS
Even in large cities, lawyers who are successful in the courtroom regardless of whether the subject is criminal or civil law, become known among their peers due to their winning records along with their personalities and sometimes for another trait: ethnicity.
After a few years as a prosecutor, TL had made friends among not only the group of lawyers whose focus was mainly on criminal law (“The Criminal Law Bar”) but also those whose law practice was devoted exclusively to the civil law of personal injuries – either presenting claims for injuries, disease and money damages or defending claims involving auto accidents, ‘slip and falls’ and toxic (poisonous) chemical exposures.
Eventually, TL was approached by several attorneys looking to expand their firm’s ability to defend corporate clients and insurance companies. TL knew that his reputation as a successful courtroom advocate was his main asset. But while not explicitly discussed, TL assumed that another reason he was offered the job was because he was Black, which made sense because city juries are often well integrated racially. TL believed he could easily transition from prosecution – with the burden of proof – to defense – without the burden of proof, regardless of the color of his skin but if his ethnicity might occasionally help him relate to all the jurors, he would accept though never count on such a difference as an advantage.
The offer to join a defense firm had several positives: the opportunity to continue spending more days in the courtroom than behind a desk plus a large salary increase to help with his family’s finances. TL didn’t yet understand some of the eventual negatives such as preparing billing to insurance companies by tracking your time to the tenth of an hour and then sometimes having your claim evaluations disregarded by client representatives with zero courtroom experience.
TL accepted the offer, hating it initially, but soon learning to cope with the negatives, which were far outweighed by the positives. After three years as an associate attorney, TL moved to another law firm for a better opportunity, where he soon became a partner, eventually serving as Managing Partner. Finally, TL was recruited by one of the city’s largest law firms featuring a non-competitive environment among its attorneys, regional offices with multi-focused practice groups and the opportunity to focus on any area of the law which TL might choose – plus one important factor: time off to pursue a political career, with the job to be held open for ‘if and when’ TL decided to return to practice civil law.
POLITICAL CAREER PATH
As a law student, TL was interested in being a leader. He ran for – and was successfully elected – as his law school’s Student Council President, who automatically served as the President of the Third Year Law Students’ class.
So, it was not surprising that early in his legal career, TL envisioned himself one day as the city’s District Attorney or Mayor. Eventually, TL “scratched that itch” by running an (unsuccessful) campaign for District Attorney, discovering how difficult and ‘dirty’ big city politics could be.
Pursuant to our democracy’s federal, state, and municipal laws, a political party’s nomination for an elective office is freely open to any adult citizen (except those disqualified by conviction for certain types of crimes) willing to serve if elected. But soon after filing his bid to be elected as District Attorney, TL learned that apparently others had their plans to win the election – by any means, including threatening candidates with bodily harm or bribing them with offers of cash or other political appointments to ‘encourage’ competitors to withdraw from the D.A.’s race.
TL was neither scared nor bribable, but a plurality of the voters nonetheless gave their votes to a primary election opponent.
CAREER PATH RESUMES FOLLOWING DETOUR INTO POLITICS
The morning after TL’s defeat in the primary election for District Attorney, he received a call from the Managing Partner of the law firm which had most recently hired him and provided the opportunity to seek political office: “Welcome back. We’re sorry you lost but glad you’ll be rejoining us as a partner in our firm.”
Since then, TL has had many memorable days in the courtroom while gladly mentoring younger lawyers just as he had been provided wise and kind guidance from his elders within the District Attorney’s office and other law firms.
A lawyer defending insurance companies and corporations in the courtroom against sick or injured claimants, must try to counter sympathy for the opponent with facts and expert testimony involving events such as:
* Car and truck accidents
* Slip and fall incidents
* Construction workers injured on the job
* Contaminated food
* Contract breaches
* Partnership disagreements
* Exposure to toxins such as asbestos, benzene and p.c.b.s
* Defamation and libel
* Professional malpractice (e.g., doctors and lawyers)
‘PEOPLE SKILLS’ ARE ESPECIALLY HELPFUL TO A LITIGATOR
‘People skills ‘ – benefiting every career – are the ability to sincerely listen to people, understand their needs and motivate them without undue pressure.
Having successfully navigated neighborhood gangs during his youth, then many different teacher personalities, being recognized as a leader by his law school class and finally working with a wide range of lawyer personalities, employing people skills came naturally to TL. No where was this more on display than during the jury interview process, which lawyers call ‘voir dire.”
Questioning prospective jurors to try to eliminate those with obvious bias toward any of the involved parties (individuals, businesses or corporations) is important toward the goal of providing a courtroom outcome fair to all involved. The voir dire process varies from state to state and from judge to judge. Some judges insist upon their own strict control, being the only one to ask questions – for example: “Can you be fair to all parties?” and “Do you agree to follow the law as I will instruct you at the end of the trial?”
Trial lawyers prefer a much more detailed process where the judge is out of the room, though available to make rulings if the attorneys disagree on some point.
When a judge allows the attorneys to question the jurors – individually, one at a time, in the presence of all attorneys involved (but not their clients), the attorneys use the opportunity for dual purposes: (1) will the prospective juror likely be biased against their client or in favor of the opponents, regardless of the evidence to be presented at trial; and (2) establish the credibility and perception of fairness for the questioning attorney – so that any witness to be presented or question to be asked, will be perceived as based on a search for the truth and fairness.
When TL had the opportunity to ‘voir dire’ the prospective jurors, his ‘hometown humility’ and calm demeanor were often thought by his courtroom opponents, to have won over most if not all the jurors to his side before any evidence proceeded.
TL’s same personality traits of ‘calm and confident’ brought many individual and corporate clients to his office for representation. TL always looked for opportunities to expose young lawyers to his way of dealing with juries and clients.
CAREER SATISFACTION
While TL – and especially his varied clients – always appreciate a successful financial settlement or jury trial win, TL’s personally most rewarding experience has been to mentor younger attorneys and watch them grow as trial lawyers and client ‘rainmakers’.
“Helping people become better is my career satisfaction” notes TL. “Many people helped me along the way, so I want to do the same for others.”
Editor – TL would never think of himself this way or concur if he heard it said but many of his peer litigators have agreed among themselves that “TL is the best defense lawyer in our state.”
