Client-centered zealous advocacy
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Every person has a life story, and client-centered representation demands that I learn about you. When I first meet a client one of the first questions I will ask is not about the facts of the case but about you. I realize that many clients are nervous, stressed, or even scared at the prospect of facing a criminal charge or investigation, so why not just get to the point? The answer is that who you are matters. It may not have mattered to the police or to the prosecutor, but it matters to me. In order to zealously defend my clients I have to know them. In fact, many times I will ask my clients to draft up their life story for me--call it an unpublished autobiography. Because whether the end game in fighting your case is arguing before a jury or speaking with a prosecutor I have to be able to tell your story, and no one knows your life story better than you.
The fact that getting to know you is one of the most important first steps in the attorney/client relationship and absolutely crucial to providing zealous representation may seem like common sense. However, you would be amazed at the number of lawyers who don't take the time to know their clients and instead subscribe to the "meet 'em and plead 'em" mentality that can exist in the courthouse. So call it common sense. Call it caring about my clients. Call it the first step in building trust. Whatever you want to call it, the first step is knowing you. The next step in any zealous representation involves intensive case analysis. In law school aspiring attorneys are taught to "think like a lawyer" and told to weigh the "good facts from bad facts." The reality is that factual analysis and investigation is only the tip of the iceberg. News flash: a lot more goes into defending a case than identifying all the facts. Modern jurors base their decisions, whether they realize it or not, on many different factors, including their life story, their upbringing, their personal prejudices, current events, social pressures, and emotions. The same can be said for prosecutors and judges. Zealous advocacy demands creative, outside the box thinking. It demands intensive investigation, not just into the facts, but also into the motivations and bias of all the witnesses in the case. It demands identifying a theory and theme of each case and creating a tailored litigation strategy to accomplish the end result.
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