I tell people who ask me what I do (with great pride) that I am a “CRIMINAL DEFENSE lawyer.” The “criminal defense” part is the most important part to me. Lawyers are everywhere. Criminal defense lawyers are a special breed. We are, in large part, the Good Guys. What I mean by “the Good Guys” is: we aren’t “The Government,” like prosecutors are, or the types who office in fancy buildings where you need parking validated. We wear t-shirts and jeans on the weekend, and watch baseball games in bars. I’m not an “attorney” because that sounds too fancy for a guy who likes the Boston Red Sox, cheap beer, and listens to the Drive-by Truckers. I am a LAWYER. Plain, simple, and to the point.
I think that the late Johnny Cash would have been a defense lawyer if he had forgone music. (Thankfully, he didn’t—road-trips across Texas would be far less enjoyable had he.) Why? Because he was “of the people”; because he was a regular guy with regular problems; because it’s “us versus them” and he was with “us.” He performed for prisoners at Folsom, and several other prisons. He began performing for prisoners in the 1950’s because he felt compassion for them. Think about that for second.
I became a criminal defense lawyer because I hate seeing people being picked on or oppressed. I hate unfair fights. And, if it’s a citizen versus his Government—as it is in any “State of Texas v. [Citizen’s Name]”—the fight is, at the outset, inherently unfair. Thus, the need for a criminal defense lawyer.
Some might object to the “us versus them” tone here. But, if we are honest with ourselves, it IS “us versus them.” Where “us” are criminal defense lawyers, and “them” are the Government, it’s hard to argue otherwise. When it’s the “State of Texas” versus my client, a line has clearly been drawn. Clients are citizens, the same way you and I are, and everyone else is. “The State of Texas” is not a citizen. It’s the Government. It’s the Government, and all its machinery (expert witnesses, nearly infinite money, the police, etc.) and might versus a citizen. It’s not a fair fight.
Criminal defense lawyers exist to make the fight fair and to safeguard you and I from the overreach of Government (for example, to make certain that police don’t kick in your front door and start rummaging through your belongings without obtaining a warrant first.)
The only people who think of criminal defense lawyers as lawyers who “represent or sympathize with criminals like murderers and thieves” are, in large part, people who are too self-righteous to ever consider for a second that they might one day be accused of a crime. Believe me, no one ever thinks they’ll end up a criminal defendant. To the more intelligent portion of the population, we are lawyers who represent, and fight for, our fellow man from the Government’s accusations.
So, what should you tell people criminal defense lawyers do? I’d recommend this:
“Criminal defense lawyers protect regular people from accusations made against them by the Government.”
That’s short, sweet, and as right as it gets.