Defender's Dilemma: Is it ever better for your client to be in jail?

My first ever client was arrested for the third time last week—thanks to me. I'm really starting to wonder if I'm really helping this guy at all.

Long story short: When he was first arrested on a minor misdemeanor, I was assigned to his case and I argued for his release on his own recognizance while we prepared for trial. He was released with conditions to stay away from a designated area of the city. The next day, he was arrested in that stay-away area and held for 5 days, after which I again went to court and argued for his release on his own recognizance. He was released and we set a date for a status hearing in both cases for about two weeks later. Two weeks later, he failed to appear in court and the judge issued a warrant for his arrest. Thus, last week he was picked up on that warrant and hauled back into jail; luckily, he didn't get any new charges, but the failure to appear is the most serious charge of the three—it carries a minimum of 90 days in jail if he's convicted and as far as I can tell we don't have much of a defense for that. Bringing the story up to date, we went to court last week and argued for his release once more. To my own (and my supervisor's) suprise, the judge let him go on his own recognizance to await trial. We set a trial date for about three weeks out.

After our appearance, I set an appointment with my client to meet the following day to talk about what we were going to do and to impress upon him once again the importance of staying in touch with me and making his court dates. The next day, he didn't show. This is basically what has happened the last two times he was released: I set an appointment, he misses it, and then I don't hear from him again until the next time he's arrested. He's homeless and will not tell me where I can find him on the street (even though I know many homeless people tend to hang in relatively small areas with which they are familiar). I have looked for him in the neighborhoods where he's been arrested but I have never been able to locate him on my own.

Hence, my dilemma: Am I doing this guy any favors by continuing to get him out of jail? Of course, he never wants to be in jail, so he's always happy to be released. However, he's now facing about six times the potential jail time he could have even been eligible for if we would have just pleaded guilty on day one, and honestly, I kind of feel responsible for that. I mean, I've been doing what he wants—getting him out of jail. However, in doing so, I've helped make his situation much, much worse.

So what do you think? And this is a question especially for the public defender types out there: Is it ever better for your client to remain in jail? And does this sound like one of those times? If my client fails to appear for trial in a couple of weeks, I probably won't be able to argue him out of jail a fourth time; I think that will be the end of the line for him. But should I have argued for his release the second time? The third? Is there a limit here, or should you always do what your client wants you to do in this type of situation?

Posted 01:13 PM | Comments (18) | TrackBack | 3L crimlaw

New Blogs

Recently added to the blogroll:

• The Considerations: A group blawg by three law students at the University of Nebraska (I think).
• Full Metal Attorney: Another law student at the University of Nebraska who's into metal songs and recently posted an incredibly lengthy dissection of Roe v. Wade which concludes with FMA's opinion that the decision on abortion should be left to the states. I wonder if Half-Cocked knows about his fellow school bloggers...
• Dept. of Nance: A northeast Ohio high school English teacher who describes herself as “a fervent blue stater trapped in this red state.” Here's a helpful little primer on common phrases that people mangle. I'm with her, and especially on 4, which bugs me to no end! But what's the deal with 5? What's the difference between “could not” and “couldn't”? Don't they mean the same thing?
• Peekaboo: A blog by a 30 something newly-minted lawyer that I should have linked long ago and just never did for some reason. Great design!

p.s.: New questions over at Blawg Wisdom! Please help out if you can!

Posted 09:11 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack | blogrolldiving

Wah!

I rode my bike home in the rain last night and this morning I feel like I have a cold. Yes, I'm whining, dammit.

Posted 08:50 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack | 3L

Apple Grows Like Crazy, Stock Plummets

What the hell? Apple announced its quarterly earnings yesterday and it was basically all great news—huge numbers of iPod sales, something like growth of 125% over last year, and finally Apple has more than 5% market share for computer sales! So what happens? Apple Stock Plunges 10 Percent:

SAN JOSE, Calif. Oct 12, 2005 — Shares of Apple Computer Inc. continued to tumble Wednesday, after the company reported robust sales of its personal computers and still-sizzling iPods, but overall shipments of the digital music player falling shy of Wall Street's high hopes.

Oh, and today Apple announced a video iPod, a new iMac w/built-in iSight video camera and remote control, but that cool stuff will probably sell like crazy and make the stock price fall even more.

Apple, the company that can never win.

Oh, and you know, I understand the many ways that Apple totally blows as a corporate behemoth that controls all its proprietary goodies to the detriment of the public good, but I'm thinking that's really got nothing to do w/why Wall Street constantly beats up on the company.

Posted 10:28 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack | mac geek

Applying for Fellowships

Hey, if you're a 3L and you haven't applied for any fellowships yet, you're screwed.

Just kidding. According to my Public Interest Lawyering prof and guest speakers, there are lots of fellowships that you can still apply for if you get on the ball. For the most complete list of opportunities, go to your career office and ask for a copy of the Harvard publication called Serving the Public: A Job Search Guide. Apart from that, here are some general tips for planning and conducting a legal fellowship or public interest job search. If you're a 2L, you need to read these and get started now. (Do what I say, not what I do.)

Different kinds of fellowships:

1. Those that are like a job at a law firm — require a cover letter and resume. These are often freestanding fellowships that someone offers in honor of someone who has passed away. Often last 1-2 years.
2. More extensive applications: Teaching fellowships at GULC and other schools, state bar fellowships, etc. Applications require a series of questions, cover letter, resume.
3. EJW, Skadden-type: Much more labor-intensive application. Requires detailed description of a new project you plan to do. Usually you have a partnership w/a “sponsor” organization and you're not just going to be a staff attorney; you're going to do something new to add to that organization's work. EJW applicant pool this year was over 300. That number hasn't really gone up much in many years, probably not b/c there aren't enough people who want to do this, but b/c the application process is difficult and requires a lot of work up front to hook up w/an organization, etc.

General advice:

1. You must start thinking, planning, and working on these things well in advance. NOW.
2. If you're thinking about public interest, you really can't afford not to apply for fellowships as opposed to staff positions. Apply to every one that interests you and that you have time to apply to.
3. The beauty of fellowships is that they're short-term so you can try different things to see if you like them.
4. Do your research! Some fellowships are seeking very specific candidates and you might be one of the few people who fit the bill.
   Make a timeline of deadlines and due dates for yourself—for asking for letters of recommendation, when you apply, etc.
5. Volunteer! Get internships in law shchool! Start your first year so you can get to know lots of people and organizations. Build relationships with organizations so you'll have an organization to work w/for the design-it-yourself fellowships (like EJW).
6. PSLawNet is great, but do not rely solely on them! They are not always right and their information is not always complete. If you're interested in something, call and verify deadlines and requirements.
7. Don't get desperate and just apply for anything you're remotely interested in or qualified for. The people reading your applications will smell that and it won't be good for you.
8. Do not “cold apply” to a fellowship of any kind because no one else does. Talk to people who have been there, do your research, know what they're looking for. You've got to do the work. Who you know can also be very big. There are “secret rules” for how to complete each application and what it's supposed to include; you have to know these secrets or your app is going to get rejected on the first glance.
9. If you've got a 3.1 GPA it does not belong on your resume.
10. The one-page resume is for law firms. Fuggedaboudit for fellowships if you've got lots to include. They want to know who you are; demonstrate your committment.

Before beginning of 3rd year (or even better, by mid 2L), limit your job/fellowship search by looking at:

• Geography—be honest w/yourself about where you're willing to live. What about SO? Family?
• Subject matter—what area of law you want to work in?
• What you want to do—policy, litigation (do you want to be a slave to the judge?), direct service, community outreach?


• Who are you? Know yourself. What is your dream and what are you willing to do to make that happen? Are you a risk-taker, or do you want to play it safer? Do you like expensive martinis or cheap beer? Do you want to start your own new thing, or work for someone else?
• Unique aspects of fellowship/job. Prestige? Prisoners. Undocumented immigrants? Who you know? Think about random variables that might make one fellowship or job better than another for you.

Obviously this isn't a complete fellowship or job search plan, but it should get you started. The most important advice in regard to the fellowships is start planning now! And good luck!

Posted 12:08 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack | 3L advice

Buy A House, Pay Off Your Student Loans?

So you're in law school (or any school) and you have a mountain of debt. What to do? According to a couple of lawyers who recently visited my Public Interest Lawyering class, you should buy a house, live there a couple of years, sell it and double your money, pay off your loans, and then do it again but use the proceeds from the second home for something else.

How is this possible? The answer seems to be NACA.com, which gives you a home loan for no money down, no closing costs, 1% under prime. You can finance the purchase plus rehab. And it really works. You have to live in the home for two years, and I think it only applies to homes on the “urban frontier” because the program is designed to “stabilize” (is that another word for “gentrify”?) depressed neighborhoods. But hey, if that sounds ok to you, you might want to think about it. This is only going to work in urban areas w/hot housing markets—like DC. But in places w/less crazy housing markets you might do well to find a HUD home; get it cheap, fix it up, live there a couple of years, sell and make a bundle. Why not? We all need a place to live...

Posted 09:59 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack | 3L

Blawg Wisdom Updates

Blawg Wisdom has been seeing more traffic and activity lately, possibly thanks to Blawg Review #22, or maybe it's just that time of year. Anyway, please check out the recent updates on international job hunting, averaging multiple LSAT scores, lawyer fashion, and alternatives to BarBri.

Posted 09:55 AM | TrackBack |

Welcome to the MT 3.2 Imbroglio!

It's done. I think. This blog and several others running on the same install are now running on Movable Type 3.2. I used these instructions to complete the upgrade; they were supposed to make the process safer somehow, but I really don't understand how. Whatever, it seemed to work and that's really what counts. This will mean next to nothing to you, but hey, I just wanted to share.

Even neatoer, I finally got the bits box to operate properly so that I can just post some quick links w/out making any “regular” post to the blog. And thanks to Andrew Raff, I also now know how to control the number of entries that appear on this page. (So basically I resolved the two problems I complained of here.) Again, this will mean little to you, except that it makes me a happier blogger, and that's got to be good for you somehow, in a really super-attenuated way. Maybe.

One other change you may or may not notice is that the blogroll is a little different (on the left). I used to have several different categories of links that were coming from del.icio.us rss feeds via the MT-RSS plugin. However, that plugin is apparently no longer being supported or isn't compatible with 3.2 or I just couldn't make it work (I don't remember; I didn't try very hard), so instead the blogroll is being generated by the Blogroll plugin, which I really like and highly recommend. It allows you to create categories of links, annotate them, and display them in all sorts of ways. I'm still going through the links to try to get them all in appropriate categories, so bear with me as I work through that. What's kind of sad is the number of blogs that are dead, gone, or just on really long breaks. I keep finding them and it's a bit depressing. It can also be confusing. For example, what the heck has been going on at Inter Alia recently? It sounds like there's a big blogging scandal at SW Law but I haven't been able to figure out how it all started or what it all means. Has anyone been following that?

Anyway, welcome to MT 3.2. Enjoy! And if you see funky things that you think were unintentional, please let me know.

Posted 03:02 PM | TrackBack | meta-blogging