by Daniel DeWoskin Trial Attorney www.atlantatrial.com One cannot say enough about the importance of caring about the work one does. As attorneys, many of us are passionate about our work and are well suited for the work that we do.…

by Daniel DeWoskin
Trial Attorney
www.atlantatrial.com

As a member of the Bar, I often reflect on the different responsibilities I have to my clients, my colleagues, the court, opposing counsel, other parties, and the public. Depending on the case my role and my responsibilities may change, but there is almost always a “little picture” and a “big picture” to consider. A recent experience highlighted this for me in a rather unfortunate situation.

My client was a 19-year-old South American who had overstayed his visa and was no longer legally residing in the United States. He and some friends were caught shoplifting from a Wal-Mart before Thanksgiving, around November 17. I believe the items he was stealing had a value of less than $20. Scared of what would happen to him, my client gave a false name and date of birth, but his lie was revealed within an hour or two. Thus, my client was now charged with not only a misdemeanor shoplifting, but also a felony charge for giving false information.

On top of these charges, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) had placed a hold on my client at the jail, meaning he would only be released into ICE custody so that the deportation process could commence. My client and his family were focused on getting him through the state charges as expeditiously as possible so that he could be deported to his country and put all this behind him.

I got to work quickly and waived preliminary hearings, doing everything I could and making any call I could make to get him before a court where he could plead to the misdemeanor and resolve the case. I had figured that the State would be willing to dismiss the felony charge given the fact that there was no real criminal history to speak of and the facts did not warrant the cost of an extended prosecution.

I figured correctly. When the matter was finally accused, which was sometime in late December, the assistant district attorney was perfectly willing to dismiss the felony and offer a probated sentence for the misdemeanor. We both acknowledged that my client would likely not have the opportunity to complete his sentence as he would not be challenging his deportation and would be taken from the county jail he was in to ICE detention.

This should have been the end of the story. Instead, when my client finally got to court for arraignment on Jan. 6, 2012, the assistant district attorney announced that the felony would be nolle prossed and they would only proceed on the misdemeanor. The Superior Court judge then advised that since this was now only a misdemeanor case, she would not hear the plea and the matter would have to be sent back to State Court. I was crestfallen. I had fielded daily phone calls (yes, daily phone calls) from my client’s concerned mother asking about when he would get to court, what the consequences would be, and how we could make the process move as quickly as possible. Now, we were finally in court and the judge would not hear the plea because, in her words, she did not want to do someone else’s work.

by Daniel DeWoskin, trial attorney
Jill Sheridan, paralegal
www.atlantatrial.com

A goal without a plan is just a wish. – Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900-1944)

As practicing attorneys with unfathomably busy schedules, we have many such goals that are mere wishes, just aspirations that we have the very best intentions of praying will someday come true. As the year winds down and many of us enjoy the few days when our clients, opposing counsel, and the court staff all for once are not keeping our phone lines jammed, some of us choose to take a very deliberate and analytical approach to what we do operationally in our office. We assess what has worked well for us and may continue to do so, as well as what has not worked so well. We will determine whether or not some of our approaches can be retooled or whether they should simply be scrapped once and for all.

Let’s be honest, we became lawyers so we didn’t have to do business, right? The end-of-year wrap-up certainly seems a lot like business. If you’re a solo practitioner, partner, or part of a small firm, it may be time to face the reality that you are running a business. The business is only as successful as the people who work within it. Planning and evaluating what operational aspects of your office are efficient and effective can be tedious, but so can engaging in practices that worked well a decade (or even three to five years) ago but have since become redundant or otherwise unnecessary.

by Daniel DeWoskin
Trial Attorney
www.atlantatrial.com

“Trust, but verify.” These immortal words of Ronald Reagan are in fact words I live by as an attorney. I have clients that will tell me things that range from the facts of their particular cases to the payment schedule to which they agree and intend to adhere. I also deal with scores of other attorneys, paralegals, court personnel, and others who tell me all sorts of things upon which I need to rely in order to see to my clients’ interests. I am a trusting person, but I always must verify that what I am trusting is in fact the truth or will come to pass.

“Trust, but verify” means exactly that. It does not mean that I have to be dubious of everything anyone tells me, but that I should have an insurance policy in place for the things that I rely on in providing my best work. Think to those critical moments in your own careers when you have stood before the Court only to have the rug pulled out from under you by opposing counsel. Think of the times that you did not check each case opposing counsel cited in his or her brief only to later learn that a pivotal case did not in fact say what he or she claimed it did. Most of us have been there at some point. It may have been a situation where we did not want to reinvent wheels and trusted the work product of a competent and trusted colleague or (heaven forbid) a boss, but had to wipe the egg off of our face when our adversary exposed our less than diligent and accurate research.

by Daniel DeWoskin
Trial Attorney
www.atlantatrial.com

I was recently invited as a guest speaker for the Government class at Decatur High School on the topic of the Fourth Amendment. The teacher left the field wide open as to what I was to cover and he made it clear that the goal was to get beyond the simplicity with which the students would dismiss everything as a violation of someone’s rights.

At first, the lack of strict parameters for the presentation caused me some concern. How would I maintain the students’ attention for an hour or an hour and a half? Certainly I didn’t want to drone on and on about case law to high school students. As my wife, friends and relatives can easily tell you, there is nothing sexy about case law. Once I was able to imagine what the students might want or expect to hear on the topic, I was prepared to address and engage them in a discussion about what the Fourth Amendment was and what it is today.

by Daniel DeWoskin

Trial Attorney

www.atlantatrial.com

Thanks to my brilliant paralegal, I have overcome my reluctance and have embraced the idea of incorporating social media into my law practice, management and marketing. You must understand that I have resisted doing this for years now despite urging from my colleagues and friends. Regardless of the success of other lawyers who have been doing this forever, I stayed in my shell and shut out all the information that has been thrown my way at CLE conventions year in and year out.

So what were my fears? Well, for one thing, although I long ago learned to be myself when dealing with clients, judges, opposing counsel, and most importantly juries, I have always been cautious about sharing my personal opinions with the world. It’s not that I’m ashamed of my particular views in any given topic, but I wouldn’t want to alienate potential clients or others just because of some perception about who I am based entirely on one stated position.