"What do you do?"

 

I've struggled with this one. Tell someone you're a lawyer, they ask what kind. "Litigator"? Sure, but who isn't? Generic. "Criminal defense," or maybe "white collar" if I want to be accepted in polite society. Sounds more interesting to most people (not my kids), but doesn't quite capture it.

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Some of my cases are criminal, but like most "white collar" lawyers, I spend a fair amount of my time on civil cases, albeit usually messy ones. Sometimes it's a civil enforcement case brought by a government agency. Sometimes it's a case brought by an individual on behalf of the government. Many times it is a private lawsuit in which someone is accusing someone else of criminal or criminalesque conduct, like fraud, theft, or kickbacks. Maybe there is a law enforcement investigation going on parallel to the lawsuit, or maybe one of the parties is trying to get law enforcement involved. I have represented accusers and accused, defendants and victims, whistleblowers and whistleblowees.

 

I've heard this kind of work referred to as "white collar-adjacent." Some law firms use terms like "special matters" or "strategic response," which sounds a little too Orwellian for my taste. "Fraud law"? "Lyin', Cheatin', and Stealin'"? "Defense Against the Dark Arts," for the Harry Potter fans? None of it works.

 

Hence, the name of this blog, which is the closest I've come to summarizing my practice. I plan to offer my thoughts on topics at the intersection of civil and criminal law, such as RICO litigation, whistleblower matters, kickback cases, and the like. I may also muse on what I have learned about advocacy over twenty-plus years of arguing cases to judges, juries, and arbitrators from Santa Ana to Paris. I write mainly for myself--Scribo, ergo sum. If others read it, enjoy it, or find it useful, so much the better; I have learned to manage my own expectations.

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