While waiting in court yesterday with my client, I overheard a court interpreter tell one of her public defense clients who she was going to interpret for in Spanish something that disturbed me. To set the stage, I heard it in English and the conversation was clear as day. She said something to the effect of:
I think DUI cases are scams. There is nothing that a lawyer can do, and I think anybody who hires one is getting scammed.
She said this loud enough that the whole court could hear.
This disturbed me because it is both true and completely false at the same time.
The fact is that there are lawyers who hold themselves out as handling DUI cases who are just high-paid escorts through the justice system. These are the lawyers that give all DUI lawyers a bad name. They are a blight on the profession. Unfortunately, the good DUI lawyers also get lumped in with the bad ones. This is understandable from the public’s perspective because it is typically the bad ones that seek out the media attention, who shout the loudest that they are the best and then let their client’s down by being incompetent, uncaring or worse.
I try to shake comments like this off and let my work speak for itself, but sometimes it is difficult not to let it bother me. The fact is that every day I fight for people who are engaged in a battle for their lives (if not literally, then it certainly seems so to them). Every day, whether in court or on the phone, I am met with skepticism that I can really do anything to help.
The hard reality is that sometimes there is nothing that I or any other lawyer can do to help. In fact there are cases where a lawyer can do more harm than good. I always point this out to potential clients when I think their cases fit into one of these categories. I am always honest with clients from the beginning and only accept cases when I think there is something I can do to help, or when the client clearly understands that I am there to make sure that nothing goes wrong.
After I finished up in that courtroom I went down two levels in the Courthouse to confirm with another courtroom that the prosecutor’s motion to dismiss all charges against my client had been granted in another case. As I walked to the parking lot with the order of dismissal of all charges in my hand, I reflected back on what that misguided court interpreter had said in that courtroom. She is just calling it like she sees it. She is not acting maliciously or spitefully. The problem is endemic in the legal profession and it needs to change.
The only way that I can think of to change it is one lawyer at a time and one client at a time. The more the public gets educated about the difference between good DUI lawyers and posers, the more chance good DUI lawyers have of enjoying the respect and reputation they deserve.
