In 2007 when I opened my law firm, I was lucky. I had a couple of years of judicial law clerk experience under my belt, I had two years of excellent training in post-conviction defense from the State Public Defender’s office, and I had support from mentors I had picked up along the way. But as a solo practitioner, the everyday practice of law is still largely a lonely endeavor. Starting out, I could not afford any support staff. I made all the calls to trial court clerks to track down records, I learned how to compile an appendix from scratch, and I created my own system of tracking cases, conflicts, and clients. I have learned what works, but mostly from figuring out the hard way what didn’t work.

What I love most about the practice of law is also what some days I hate most about the practice of law: it is always changing. New procedural rules, new cases that slightly tweak or radically alter an area of law, new studies that affect the reliability of evidence, etc. As an appellate lawyer, I must keep up with the changes and understand the trends occurring in the law. As a post-conviction lawyer, I must also keep up with the changes in forensic disciplines and understand how a new technological innovation will impact criminal law. And every year the statutory law changes, creating new offenses while redefining others.

Someone new to this area of law or a criminal defendant trying to make his way through the morass on his own will easily feel overwhelmed. These are the people that inspired me to start a blog. Admittedly, this is my second attempt. My first attempt ended badly after my web host changed its software and essentially wiped my old blog out. After what was an incredibly trying year (2020), I set a New Year’s resolution to revive my blog, and so it begins.

Much of what I post I hope will be helpful to colleagues and to the clients we serve. Like everything else in law and in life, it will be a journey. Let the journey begin!