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JohnDeBellisFirstEssay 5 - 29 May 2016 - Main.EbenMoglen
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I came to law school to work with poor clients, help them navigate the legal system, and fight for their rights. I want to base my career on doing direct legal services, most likely as a public defender. I also admire Robinson of Robinson's Metamorphosis in many ways. He is an immensely capable attorney, with a strong knowledge of how the law works, and a creative way of applying it. At the same time, he does not lose focus on the social consequences of his actions and his clients' behavior. However, because of the way the criminal justice system is set up in America, I can neither completely meet my pre-law school expectations nor the ideal of Robinson. Yet I still have hope I can lead a fulfilling career as a public defender. | | | I unfortunately do not have a solution for the greater problem of overworked public defenders or for the fact that the justice system in many parts of the US functions to oppress poor, black, and brown people. But public defenders are not universally resigned to a passive fate. For example, the New Orleans Public Defender's Office stopped accepting cases because its staff is underfunded and overburdened. It is being partially-voluntarily sued by the ACLU, with the hope that Louisiana will have to better fund it. I also saw that office's chief defender speak a few weeks ago at Columbia, and he talked about the ways the attorneys in his office have been able to change court practices to better defend their clients. All of this is to say that I can at least try to practice public defense by being outcome-focused on the one hand, while at the same time keeping an eye towards who my clients are and how I can best serve their interests outside of their particular criminal case. | |
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The draft is much improved by the effort to check aspirations
against realities. You are now writing about what it feels like to
learn, at the broadest level, about the forms of practice you want
to have. You could ask how being a salaried public defender differs
from being a private defense practitioner with a substantial CJA
practice: whether a different socio-economic mix in the client base
and a different "business model" in your own practice would allow
you to do more of what you want, or not.
Of course you do not have solutions to the ills of "the system" of
criminal justice. Almost all rational well-informed observers of
the system I know would describe the things we should do and the
things we can politically and socially achieve as mutually
incongruent. You aren't in law school in order to make magical
policy choices that will solve problems those closer to the earth
don't believe can be solved given the realities with which we live.
You are studying the system, learning to get results for the people
it processes, building a network of people who can help you get
results, and the clients for whom to get them. You are considering
whether to begin as a salaried public worker in the part of the
system politics is least likely to resource adequately. This is a
good start.
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You are entitled to restrict access to your paper if you want to. But we all derive immense benefit from reading one another's work, and I hope you won't feel the need unless the subject matter is personal and its disclosure would be harmful or undesirable. |
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JohnDeBellisFirstEssay 4 - 16 Apr 2016 - Main.JohnDeBellis
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< | I am having some difficulty figuring out how to apply the lessons I took from Robinson’s Metamorphosis to my own life and goals. I admire Robinson in many ways, as he is an immensely capable attorney, with a strong knowledge of how the law works, and a creative way of applying it. At the same time, he does not lose focus on the social consequences of his actions and his clients’ behavior. But he is also not very likeable, and has the personality that makes many people dislike lawyers. | >
> | I came to law school to work with poor clients, help them navigate the legal system, and fight for their rights. I want to base my career on doing direct legal services, most likely as a public defender. I also admire Robinson of Robinson's Metamorphosis in many ways. He is an immensely capable attorney, with a strong knowledge of how the law works, and a creative way of applying it. At the same time, he does not lose focus on the social consequences of his actions and his clients' behavior. However, because of the way the criminal justice system is set up in America, I can neither completely meet my pre-law school expectations nor the ideal of Robinson. Yet I still have hope I can lead a fulfilling career as a public defender. | | | | |
<
< | The Legal System is a Losing Game | | | | |
<
< | I want to base my career on doing direct legal services, most likely in public defense. I learned in Civil Procedure and Criminal Law that over than 90% of cases either settle before trial or involve a guilty plea. Obviously there are ways of structuring settlement deals and plea bargains to best benefit your client, and I am sure Robinson would be able to do that effectively. He would probably know the prosecutors and judges, and recognize when to advise clients that their best route is a guilty plea. | >
> | Public Defenders' Caseloads
Many public defenders do not have enough time to spend on their cases. The ABA (in the 1970's) recommended that attorneys handle no more than 150 felony cases per year, although an updated recommendation based on the increased complexity of criminal cases would be lower. Most public defenders handle many more than that, some even spending on average as little as 7 minutes per case. Perhaps in part because of the limited time public defenders can spend on their cases, more than 90% of defendants in the United States plead guilty before trial. There can be a number of extremely negative consequences to pleading guilty to a crime, such as deportation and losing the right to vote, own a firearm, hold office, or serve on a jury. In many ways the legal system, especially for poor people, is a losing game. Even getting arrested can be bad news. Most people feel an injustice, guilty or not, when they are accused of a crime, taken to jail, booked, processed, and forced to pay legal fees. By the time a lawyer gets involved, the client has already had the power of the state used against him. Even in the best case scenario, where he is found not guilty and is acquitted, he has lost money, time, and reputation. | | | | |
<
< | However, in many ways the legal world, especially for poor people, is a losing game. Simply getting involved in the system is an inherent bad. Most people feel an injustice, guilty or not, when they are accused of a crime, taken to jail, booked, processed, and forced to pay legal fees. A lawyer that reduces a client’s sentence does not mean the client will be satiated. By the time a lawyer gets involved, the client has already had the power of the state used against him. Even in the best case scenario, where a he is found not guilty and is acquitted, he often might not feel a sense of justice. | | | | |
<
< | Family Experiences with the Law
Growing up, I only really looked at the law from the other side of a lawyer-client relationship. At least with my own family members, their perception of the legal system and justice was not solely outcome-focused. My aunt was accused of a crime in which both her and her accuser felt they were justified in their actions. Defying the odds, the case against my aunt was thrown out. By all accounts she should have felt that justice was done, but she did not. Her view on the subject was entirely colored by the negative experiences she had with the system. She complained about her lawyer, owed various people money, spent time in and out of court and meetings, had to go to jail, and fronted bail money. | >
> | Public Defenders Can Meet Neither Robinson's Ideals Nor my Own Pre-Law Goals
If I am going to pursue a career as a public defender and feel satisfied, I can neither fully emulate Robinson nor fully fulfill my pre-law school goals. Obviously there are ways of structuring settlement deals and plea bargains to best benefit my clients, and I am sure Robinson would be able to do that effectively. He would probably know the prosecutors and judges, and recognize when to advise clients that their best route is a guilty plea. However, I really doubt that someone as outcome-focused as Robinson is going to improve his clients' sense of whether or not justice was served, except at the margins. This is in part because most of them will end up behind bars anyway, and in part because they are getting screwed over even if they do not. | | | | |
>
> | I also will not be able to perform the pseudo-social worker job I envisioned for myself coming into law school, easing clients' lives while they deal with something largely out of their hands. Only shepherding clients through the criminal process nicely is playing into the system that disempowered them in the first place. By not focusing on the results of the case as Robinson does, and instead merely worrying about my clients' feelings and building positive emotional bonds, I am little more than a benevolent prison guard. Even if I ignore the fact that this kind of outlook would be morally wrong, I quite simply will not get enough time to spend with my clients to affect them on a personal level. Because of the way our justice system is structured, public defenders are not able to spend large amounts of time with their clients. | | | | |
<
< | Options for my Future
As a law student looking ahead to a career in pursuit of improving the public welfare, I see two possible routes: use my law license to focus on bettering clients’ experiences in the criminal justice system, or do not use my law license and try to actually change the system. Because of my own personality, and lack of management skills, leadership, or power, I do not think I will be at all effective in changing any sort of system. Instead, something I can actually do and hopefully will do effectively, is to provide direct services and ease clients’ lives while they deal with something largely out of their hands. Ideally I will be able to win more cases and have better outcomes for my clients than if they were represented by someone else. But in many ways what I want to focus on and do effectively is easing their lives while they deal with the system. | | | | |
>
> | Possibilities for my Future Career
Looking ahead, I can take away general ideas from both Robinson and my pre-law school expectations. I can both be outcome-focused and try to improve my clients' perceptions of their experiences in the criminal justice system. This is really just being a "good" public defender, doing what is best for my client in an unjust system, and letting them feel empowered to the greatest extent possible. Despite this they will almost universally come out of their experience in a worse situation than they went in. Plus, many have already been arrested and will get arrested again, regardless of what I do. | | | | |
<
< | Robinson and Getting Things Done
This is where I believe I split with Robinson. He seems like an immensely competent attorney. I personally would want him as my lawyer if I got accused of a crime, as he seems the most likely to actually win. But lots of indigent, disempowered people do not view the system that way. Regardless of their case’s outcome they are going to lose, and have and will continue to suffer injustice. I really doubt that someone as outcome-focused as Robinson is going to improve his clients’ sense of whether or not justice was served except at the margins. This is in part because most of his clients will end up in bars anyway, and in part because they are getting screwed over even if they do not.
On the other hand, shepherding clients through the criminal process nicely is playing into the system that disempowered them in the first place. By not focusing on the results of the case as Robinson does, and instead merely worrying about my client’s feelings and building positive emotional bonds, I am little more than a benevolent prison guard. This is obviously a false dichotomy, made easy by the fact that Robinson is an ideal. Hopefully I can be both outcome-focused and try to improve my client’s perceptions of their experiences in the system.
However, I am still struggling with whether there is an inherent good to outcomes, regardless of a client’s perception of that outcome. An omniscient third party would likely say yes, it is better for a person to get out of prison in nine years rather than ten, even if he believes he was subject to injustice at the hands of his own attorney. But I am not sure the client would feel that way, especially because he does not definitively know the alternative. I appreciate Robinson, and I hope to emulate him in many ways, but I also think the attorney-client relationship is just as important as the result of the client’s case.
The draft describes a feeling. The description is somewhat
repetitive, so one could edit the draft to keep the feeling while
freeing up space to consider the questions raised by the feeling.
In the first place, is the social-worker activity you propose for
yourself consistent with the actual conditions of practice? At what
caseload would that be possible, never mind worthwhile, and at what
caseload does it become infeasible? What caseload level do you
expect that the taxpayers actually wind up funding? There are facts
available, so you can find them.
In the second place, what psychological premises are you employing
and what establishes them? To say that people would rather serve
ten years' imprisonment and feel justly dealt with than nine years
in a hostile system is not—to put it
gently—self-evident.
In the third place, how do you conclude that the criminal defense
lawyer's role should be "friend"? I've never thought that even Charles Fried could be convincing on that point. Perhaps that's because I have in fact represented people charged with or in danger of being charged with crimes.
Given how much of "the system" is used to process a rather small
part of the population—which looks far darker in color and
poorer than the rest of us—what does "changing the system"
mean, if not addressing its racist and class-oppressive priorities
in prosecution and punishment?
| >
> | I unfortunately do not have a solution for the greater problem of overworked public defenders or for the fact that the justice system in many parts of the US functions to oppress poor, black, and brown people. But public defenders are not universally resigned to a passive fate. For example, the New Orleans Public Defender's Office stopped accepting cases because its staff is underfunded and overburdened. It is being partially-voluntarily sued by the ACLU, with the hope that Louisiana will have to better fund it. I also saw that office's chief defender speak a few weeks ago at Columbia, and he talked about the ways the attorneys in his office have been able to change court practices to better defend their clients. All of this is to say that I can at least try to practice public defense by being outcome-focused on the one hand, while at the same time keeping an eye towards who my clients are and how I can best serve their interests outside of their particular criminal case. | | |
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JohnDeBellisFirstEssay 3 - 07 Mar 2016 - Main.EbenMoglen
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I am having some difficulty figuring out how to apply the lessons I took from Robinson’s Metamorphosis to my own life and goals. I admire Robinson in many ways, as he is an immensely capable attorney, with a strong knowledge of how the law works, and a creative way of applying it. At the same time, he does not lose focus on the social consequences of his actions and his clients’ behavior. But he is also not very likeable, and has the personality that makes many people dislike lawyers. | | | However, I am still struggling with whether there is an inherent good to outcomes, regardless of a client’s perception of that outcome. An omniscient third party would likely say yes, it is better for a person to get out of prison in nine years rather than ten, even if he believes he was subject to injustice at the hands of his own attorney. But I am not sure the client would feel that way, especially because he does not definitively know the alternative. I appreciate Robinson, and I hope to emulate him in many ways, but I also think the attorney-client relationship is just as important as the result of the client’s case. | |
>
> |
The draft describes a feeling. The description is somewhat
repetitive, so one could edit the draft to keep the feeling while
freeing up space to consider the questions raised by the feeling.
In the first place, is the social-worker activity you propose for
yourself consistent with the actual conditions of practice? At what
caseload would that be possible, never mind worthwhile, and at what
caseload does it become infeasible? What caseload level do you
expect that the taxpayers actually wind up funding? There are facts
available, so you can find them.
In the second place, what psychological premises are you employing
and what establishes them? To say that people would rather serve
ten years' imprisonment and feel justly dealt with than nine years
in a hostile system is not—to put it
gently—self-evident.
In the third place, how do you conclude that the criminal defense
lawyer's role should be "friend"? I've never thought that even Charles Fried could be convincing on that point. Perhaps that's because I have in fact represented people charged with or in danger of being charged with crimes.
Given how much of "the system" is used to process a rather small
part of the population—which looks far darker in color and
poorer than the rest of us—what does "changing the system"
mean, if not addressing its racist and class-oppressive priorities
in prosecution and punishment?
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You are entitled to restrict access to your paper if you want to. But we all derive immense benefit from reading one another's work, and I hope you won't feel the need unless the subject matter is personal and its disclosure would be harmful or undesirable.
To restrict access to your paper simply delete the "#" character on the next two lines: |
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JohnDeBellisFirstEssay 2 - 19 Feb 2016 - Main.JohnDeBellis
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| META TOPICPARENT | name="FirstEssay" |
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> | I am having some difficulty figuring out how to apply the lessons I took from Robinson’s Metamorphosis to my own life and goals. I admire Robinson in many ways, as he is an immensely capable attorney, with a strong knowledge of how the law works, and a creative way of applying it. At the same time, he does not lose focus on the social consequences of his actions and his clients’ behavior. But he is also not very likeable, and has the personality that makes many people dislike lawyers. | | | | |
<
< | It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted. | >
> | The Legal System is a Losing Game | | | | |
<
< | Paper Title | >
> | I want to base my career on doing direct legal services, most likely in public defense. I learned in Civil Procedure and Criminal Law that over than 90% of cases either settle before trial or involve a guilty plea. Obviously there are ways of structuring settlement deals and plea bargains to best benefit your client, and I am sure Robinson would be able to do that effectively. He would probably know the prosecutors and judges, and recognize when to advise clients that their best route is a guilty plea. | | | | |
<
< | -- By JohnDeBellis - 19 Feb 2016 | >
> | However, in many ways the legal world, especially for poor people, is a losing game. Simply getting involved in the system is an inherent bad. Most people feel an injustice, guilty or not, when they are accused of a crime, taken to jail, booked, processed, and forced to pay legal fees. A lawyer that reduces a client’s sentence does not mean the client will be satiated. By the time a lawyer gets involved, the client has already had the power of the state used against him. Even in the best case scenario, where a he is found not guilty and is acquitted, he often might not feel a sense of justice. | | | | |
>
> | Family Experiences with the Law
Growing up, I only really looked at the law from the other side of a lawyer-client relationship. At least with my own family members, their perception of the legal system and justice was not solely outcome-focused. My aunt was accused of a crime in which both her and her accuser felt they were justified in their actions. Defying the odds, the case against my aunt was thrown out. By all accounts she should have felt that justice was done, but she did not. Her view on the subject was entirely colored by the negative experiences she had with the system. She complained about her lawyer, owed various people money, spent time in and out of court and meetings, had to go to jail, and fronted bail money. | | | | |
<
< | Section I | | | | |
<
< | Subsection A | >
> | Options for my Future
As a law student looking ahead to a career in pursuit of improving the public welfare, I see two possible routes: use my law license to focus on bettering clients’ experiences in the criminal justice system, or do not use my law license and try to actually change the system. Because of my own personality, and lack of management skills, leadership, or power, I do not think I will be at all effective in changing any sort of system. Instead, something I can actually do and hopefully will do effectively, is to provide direct services and ease clients’ lives while they deal with something largely out of their hands. Ideally I will be able to win more cases and have better outcomes for my clients than if they were represented by someone else. But in many ways what I want to focus on and do effectively is easing their lives while they deal with the system. | | | | |
<
< | Subsub 1 | >
> | Robinson and Getting Things Done
This is where I believe I split with Robinson. He seems like an immensely competent attorney. I personally would want him as my lawyer if I got accused of a crime, as he seems the most likely to actually win. But lots of indigent, disempowered people do not view the system that way. Regardless of their case’s outcome they are going to lose, and have and will continue to suffer injustice. I really doubt that someone as outcome-focused as Robinson is going to improve his clients’ sense of whether or not justice was served except at the margins. This is in part because most of his clients will end up in bars anyway, and in part because they are getting screwed over even if they do not. | | | | |
<
< | Subsection B | >
> | On the other hand, shepherding clients through the criminal process nicely is playing into the system that disempowered them in the first place. By not focusing on the results of the case as Robinson does, and instead merely worrying about my client’s feelings and building positive emotional bonds, I am little more than a benevolent prison guard. This is obviously a false dichotomy, made easy by the fact that Robinson is an ideal. Hopefully I can be both outcome-focused and try to improve my client’s perceptions of their experiences in the system. | | | | |
<
< | Subsub 1
Subsub 2
Section II
Subsection A
Subsection B | >
> | However, I am still struggling with whether there is an inherent good to outcomes, regardless of a client’s perception of that outcome. An omniscient third party would likely say yes, it is better for a person to get out of prison in nine years rather than ten, even if he believes he was subject to injustice at the hands of his own attorney. But I am not sure the client would feel that way, especially because he does not definitively know the alternative. I appreciate Robinson, and I hope to emulate him in many ways, but I also think the attorney-client relationship is just as important as the result of the client’s case. | | |
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JohnDeBellisFirstEssay 1 - 19 Feb 2016 - Main.JohnDeBellis
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It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted.
Paper Title
-- By JohnDeBellis - 19 Feb 2016
Section I
Subsection A
Subsub 1
Subsection B
Subsub 1
Subsub 2
Section II
Subsection A
Subsection B
You are entitled to restrict access to your paper if you want to. But we all derive immense benefit from reading one another's work, and I hope you won't feel the need unless the subject matter is personal and its disclosure would be harmful or undesirable.
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