I grew up wanting to be an attorney. I went to an unaccredited law school. I could sit for the bar, but my school was not ABA accredited. This meant I would not get offers from the big law firms. But I wanted to be a criminal attorney so I thought this would not matter.
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.
However, the practical experience in criminal law came from working for the government. Most criminal attorneys working in the private sector started as a deputy public defender or deputy district attorney. And I was not going be able to break into that area coming from a small school. On top of that when I graduated the state had a hiring freeze because of budget constraints. About a year later however, the freeze was lifted for one opening. I interviewed and scored an 88 out of a possible 100. This was not good enough to land the only opening in a year with all the competition out there I knew.
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.
After completing the course I ran an ad in the local shopper. My phone rang all day long. I went to court with my first client. The courtroom was in the city I grew up in across the street from the college I graduated from.
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.
Once done, the bailiff looked me up and down turned her nose up and walked away. I asked the deputy district attorney to confirm the charge against my client and asked her the sentence the state would agree to. I learned to do this in class. She rearranged her papers and without looking my way said I will learn when the judge started the case.
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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