Public Lawyers....much maligned but VERY good at what they do!

Everyone's idea of a "public lawyer"

  So, I was appointed to a case where I was supposed to represent a father.  I try to call him and I get no answer.  Finally, he answers the phone and after I explain that I have been appointed to represent him, he informs me that he doesn't want any "public defender" because 'everyone' knows that they don't do anything and aren't worth anything...although he DID put those sentiments far more colorfully than I just did.  He then demands that I tell him where his daughter is and he wants everything explained to him.  This from the man who has 1) already told me that I can't find my behind with both hands; and 2) that he is going to fire me.  Geez, I love my job.  I do proceed to explain the process to him and we agree to meet the morning of the hearing. 


The morning arrives and he walks in wearing a very nice (and expensive) pair of pants (black), a silk shirt (black pin-striped), and a black silk tie.  Mind, I have now received the court report and have found out that this "pillar of the community" has felony convictions for "Drive By Shooting" and is currently being investigated for "Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon" so I guess that he might have 'some' idea of the criminal justice system.  Anyway, he reaffirms that he is going to "fire me" and that he wants me to get "this" continued because he just doesn't feel comfortable going forward without a lawyer 'he can trust'.  I spend the next hour or so representing him so that the hearing (his part of it) is continued AND I find him a lawyer to hire (boy, the things I do for my friends - losing $250/hr vs. representing a 'winning' client....hmmm, tough choice).

The things I do in this job!  What I can say is that the majority of the public lawyers that I have met (and I mean public defenders and legal defenders) have been hardworking, knowledgeable, and determined to represent their clients to the upmost of their ability which is usually considerable!  Of course, there are those who played dirty, didn't have a clue what they were doing, and the like but most of those had gone into private practice.  The majority of the PDs and LDs were VERY good at what they did!

A good glass of Cabernet to those....