How Does Your Professionalism Help Your Clients?

(The content below was transcribed from an interview done with Acacia Law. We think you'll find it much easier
and more enjoyable to read this way.)

Interviewer: With advertising for attorneys, particularly criminal defense advertising, you see, "I am aggressive. I am a fighter in your corner. I will fight for you.” What is your view of that kind of advertising for attorneys?

Acacia Law: I think that is something people like to hear. That is why it is said all the time. I personally dislike the phrase “aggressive attorney.” This is because the attorney will act tough in front of the prosecutor; but it does not get them anywhere. The prosecutor does not care.

The facts of the case are still the facts of the case. You can be a jerk, pound your hand up and down on the table, and tell the prosecutor this is unjust. Meanwhile, your client is applauding because they think you are a fighter. Well, you are not really doing anything good at all for the client.

First of all, it is their neck that goes to prison. That is your job to keep them out of that. If you are being basically a jerk no one is going to like you, including the judge. A common compliment I have received throughout the years from judges – and the prosecutor on the other side as well – is they appreciate the lack of enmity in the way I deal with the case in front of the jury.

I have a fairly high win percentage to begin with. Compared to the public defender's office, it is very high. The fact of the matter is I am known as being professional, not somebody who is going to throw a book at you.

It is not going to accomplish anything except piss off the prosecutor and make the judge look at you like you are a complete idiot. They know the routine. These judges have been around. They know what works and what does not. Remember, a lot of them have been prosecutors.

They want to listen to reason. They do not care if you act tough because they know they have the facts and the law on their side. So that, to me, is not aggressive representation at all. That is almost a funeral for your client, more or less. You may look good or they may even think you look good or sound good. However, at the end of the day, they are going to be found guilty and go to prison. Ultimately, your aggression did nothing but destroy their lives. That is pointless aggression.

When I think of aggression, I look at it in terms of what I do. Aggressive means that I will not lie down. However, I will do the work on the case. That is more important than yelling at a prosecutor; or what I call “posturing” in front of the court or the prosecutor. That, to me, is ineffective. That is what aggressive is to me.

Aggressive is doing the interview or spending three hours in an armed robbery interview. I am making headway on the facts and what is reasonable, as opposed to sitting there and getting into some bickering match with the prosecutor.

That is just a colossal waste of time; their time and my time. I do not need them to prove they are tough to me and I do not need to prove that I am tough to them. It really does the client no good. Furthermore, it does the justice system no good.

Most judges, if you ask them, will tell you they have little respect for that. They do not care if you say you are aggressive or you are a fighter because nobody cares. When you are dealing with the state, it is like bringing a knife to a gunfight.

You can wave your knife all you want but they can shoot you down at 20 meters. It really does not matter how aggressive you act. You are still going to be gunned down. I find judges I deal with, and even the ones who do not know me but see my results, do respect what I have accomplished.

Now, you can imagine the judge sitting there knows the client’s offer has been 12 1/2 years. You can imagine the look on a judge's face when I submit a plea where the offer is no agreements, no jail necessary. You see, they know, right there, you did something extraordinary.

I do not think they use the word “aggressive,” as much. I think thorough and tenacious is what they respect.

Interviewer: Is it better to be “hard-working,” “deep digging,”or“strategic” versus fist pounding, hand-waving or aggressive?

Acacia Law: I have had attorneys tell me for 25 years something cannot be done. This policy cannot be breached. This plea cannot be made. It is impossible. However, I have gotten them. They are not impossible.

I want to tell them but it is a waste of time because they will not listen anyway. I want to tell them it is your approach that is blocking you. It is making this a mountain where it should just be a hill.

Interviewer: I have heard attorneys say, "Prosecutors fear me;" or "The state fears me because they know I am going to do this or that." Is that ridiculous?

Acacia Law: It is absolutely absurd. I do not know and have never heard of any prosecutor who said there is any defense attorney they fear; or who has caused them to reassess and reevaluate a case just because the attorney has got on board. They are not afraid.

You have to look at it from their perspective. The prosecutors do not have anything to lose here. So what if they lose? The client walks home. They go to bed. They sleep. There is nothing to fear. Worst-case scenario, you go in and you lose the case.

There is no defense attorney, and I include myself in that number, that goes shaking in their boots if I enter my notice of appearance. It is not a scary thing. It does not work. They could care less. Actually, they could not care less.

Remember, it is “The state of Arizona versus . . . “Again,prosecutors do not have their own personal money, time and effort involved in the case. These are criminal cases. They do not have anything to lose. If they lose the case, they shrug their shoulders and say, "We lost the case." They go home. It is okay. They are not going to be fired. They are not going to go broke. It does not cost them a thing.

Interviewer: Do they have unlimited resources?

Acacia Law: Yes, in a sense they do. It is not their resources. However, again, I have never heard one prosecutor in my life tell me they have been afraid of a defense attorney. Now, I have had some prosecutors work with me because they have either worked with me in the past or they knew someone else who has worked with me. They know I have been fair.