I have five cases set for trial right now. Five. And if you asked me why each one was going to trial, I would give you five different answers. That got me thinking about something people probably don't think about very often: How does a criminal defense lawyer decide that a case should go to… Continue reading Where’s the Lab? On Trial, Mentorship and the Question that Changed Everything
Category: Behind the Case
Memoir-type reflections on navigating court, emotional burdens, and moral tensions
One Line on the Calendar: What Actually Happened When Criminal Court Had Other Ideas
When my week started on Monday, the only thing on my court schedule for Friday was taking misdemeanor appointments. One line on the calendar. Simple. Straightforward. Predictable. But criminal court doesn’t care about your calendar. By the time I finished, I had been in four courts on three different floors, circling the building like a… Continue reading One Line on the Calendar: What Actually Happened When Criminal Court Had Other Ideas
So I Go: The Unglamorous Work of Showing Up
After court and lunch, I walked the few blocks to the jail. It’s close enough that the transition feels abrupt — one minute I’m checking status of discovery, and the next I’m handing over my ID, my bar card, and a little card with my client’s name and location. They give me back the client… Continue reading So I Go: The Unglamorous Work of Showing Up
When Innocence Competes with Survival
She told me from day one she didn’t do it. Not in a dramatic way. Not in a “let me convince you” way. Just a quiet, steady truth she carried every time we talked. And then the seizures started coming harder. More frequent. More violent. More unpredictable. By the time we reached the point where… Continue reading When Innocence Competes with Survival
Nothing About My Work Looks Like That
Law & Order SVU has been my show for years, but let’s be honest — nothing about my actual work looks like that. There’s no dramatic music. No last‑minute confessions. No detectives sprinting down hallways. And absolutely no scene where a defense attorney gets an investigator without filing a motion, drafting a proposed order, and… Continue reading Nothing About My Work Looks Like That
Nobody’s Hands Are Clean: On Advocacy, Accountability, and a Trial I Wish Wasn’t Happening
There are some weeks when being a criminal defense lawyer feels straightforward. This is not one of them. I'm preparing for a trial that I wish wasn't happening—not because I don't believe in trying cases, but because this one sits in the uncomfortable space where multiple truths exist at the same time. My client made… Continue reading Nobody’s Hands Are Clean: On Advocacy, Accountability, and a Trial I Wish Wasn’t Happening
In the Interest of Justice — On a Case That Never Should Have Been Filed and a Mother Who Deserved Better
The last few weeks have been a season of grief and illness — and if I'm honest, the illness isn't fully behind me yet. But you've walked some of this with me, and I have something from the courtroom worth sharing. Some cases stay with you not because they were dramatic, but because they reveal… Continue reading In the Interest of Justice — On a Case That Never Should Have Been Filed and a Mother Who Deserved Better
Carrying Both—When the Work Doesn’t Stop and Neither Does the Hurt
What I’m learning is this: sometimes life asks us to carry more than one kind of weight at the same time. Grief in one hand. Illness in the other. And somehow, the work still expects you to show up—to advocate, to prepare, to stand in court with a steady voice even when your body and… Continue reading Carrying Both—When the Work Doesn’t Stop and Neither Does the Hurt
A Case and a Crisis Are Not the Same Thing: What Happened When a Courtroom Stopped to Listen
It was supposed to be a routine plea. I was standing in line waiting to approach the bench when another lawyer stepped up with her client to enter a plea on a theft case. The offer was deferred adjudication, and everything appeared to be moving in the ordinary rhythm of a busy criminal court docket.… Continue reading A Case and a Crisis Are Not the Same Thing: What Happened When a Courtroom Stopped to Listen
This Isn’t a Detour: Why My Toughest Case Is Preparing Me for Capital Defense
There are cases you choose, and there are cases that choose you. This one chose me. I’ve had many moments where I regretted taking on a child‑pornography case. Not because of the work — I can do the work — but because of the weight. The stigma. The isolation. The way people’s faces change when… Continue reading This Isn’t a Detour: Why My Toughest Case Is Preparing Me for Capital Defense
On (In)justice 