A War Criminal, A Nazi, and I walk into a bar

We all order a beer, but the bartender only brings one beer. Why? Well, apparently we are one in the same.

As you recall, I posted a simple question of which character trait would you most want in a defense attorney; empathy or ruthlessness. What started as a generic post has erupted into a firestorm.

You see, our good friend Mark Bennett down at Defending People took exception to the idea that defense attorneys could, or should ever be ruthless. He calls the ruthless lawyer a myth. It seems the word ruthless is a bad word for Mark and his extremist, reactionary commenters, whom I shall now always refer to as Bennettons.

Now I will admit, as I did here and as Norm Pattis and Scott Greenfield and Jamie Spencer said, that perhaps we are really talking semantics here. One man's ruthless representation is another man's aggressive representation and another man simply putting his heart into his.

But boy, the Bennettons don't see it that way. Apparently down Houston way, ruthless means you are a war criminal. Or a dictator. Or a Nazi. Or maybe just a really bad guy.

I completely understand that Mark thinks that to be a better defense attorney, he needs to be able to empathize with his client and his situation, and in turn convey that experience to the prosecutor in negotiations and to the judge and/ or jury during trial. I got that. I have no problem with. I really don't. It's part of what we do. I try to do it, although admittedly probably not nearly as well as Mark. As Greenfield made clear, we need to be able to be whatever our clients need us to be at that particular time.

I could question Mark's "legal tactics" (as his commenters have questioned mine) by saying he would rather make everyone in the case feel good about themselves. I could argue that Mark is doing his clients a disservice by wanting to give the State's witnesses a hug before and after cross examining them. I could say I doubt there are too many people in prison who were okay with their attorneys not ruthlessly representing them because their attorney made them feel like a better person by sitting around the office in a circle singing. But I won't. Not me. I'm not an extremist reactionary.

The word ruthless means simply "without pity or compassion." The synonyms are relentless and adamant. (Try looking that up, Bennettons.) There is nothing in there about breaking the rules or the law. There is nothing about doing anything unethical. Of course I don't have a Houston dictionary, so it might be different down there.

There is nothing about ruthless representation that means you are a jerk to the prosecutor or the court staff or the judge. It means you have no compassion for the sleazy cop on the stand who is trying to cover his ass by testi-lying. It means you have no pity for making it clear to a jury that the complaining witness is making up the terrible story just to get back at the client. It means I have one job in that courtroom and it is for the guy sitting next to me.

So the next time one of the Bennettons should find themselves in a precarious position with the police (maybe one too many drinks before hitting the road?), maybe they shouldn't be so quick to question the motives of those that ruthlessly defend people. It might actually help them.

But maybe not. So here's a thought. Give the cop a hug. See if that works.

Comments

[Mark Bennett]

Take-No-Prisoners Shawn,

Um, no, they're not actually synonyms. Maybe your thesaurus says so, but it's wrong.