Criminal Defense

Weekly Report 10/10/2017 to 10/16/2017

This past week I had the opportunity to meet with three criminal defense attorneys. Going into the interviews, I was terribly anxious to get started, but as I dove into the questions, my nerves eased and I could not have been more pleased with how much I learned from these two appointments. All of these professionals were so knowledgeable and shared invaluable advice with me that will benefit me not only in my ISM journey but also in my future path in the law.

First, my meeting with Mr. Ryne Sandel and Mr. Bryce Lair from the Whalen Law Office primarily helped me to clarify the difference between criminal and civil law. Mr. Sandel had previously worked as a civil litigator right out of law school, so he explained the technical differences between criminal and civil law, such as the fact that civil cases generally require less trial time and both the attorneys and clients fight more for money-based incentives in these cases. However, Mr. Lair, a former prosecutor for the District Attorney’s office in Oklahoma shared with me his reasons for going into criminal law from a more personal point of view; he described how rewarding fighting for individual rights and freedoms can be. I was very intrigued to hear Mr. Lair’s journey in finding a service-based career that would fulfill his need to make an impact on the community. In choosing my topic for ISM this year, I felt the same aspiration to choose a path that would make a difference in others’ lives and provide service in some form, so I was greatly appreciative to have heard this testimony from Mr. Lair.

In addition to this interview, I met with Mr. Philip Ray from the Law Offices of Philip D. Ray, who not only shared his experience in working in a clerkship before law school, but also showed me a copy of a brief he had written and a billing report he had just filed in order to help me to get a feel for the kinds of work he does on a daily basis. I was fascinated by his stories about interning with a judge over the summer; he told me about his experiences with watching the jury selection process, voir dire, and with evaluating the attorneys after each trial. Mr. Ray explained how he learned the most about the law through this clerkship, and recommended that I find one as soon as possible too. Furthermore, our interview ended up being two hours long because I was so captivated by his stories from previous trials. Getting to read through some of his arguments in his brief was so interesting. I loved hearing his passion for criminal justice and getting to see his calendar and billing report which helped me to get an idea for the types of paperwork that he typically does.

These two interviews taught me so much about the law, how to plan for the future, and what exactly these criminal attorneys do. I am looking forward to conducting future interviews with other types of attorneys and law enforcement agents in order to learn more and compare that information with the knowledge that I have gained about criminal defense law through these meetings.