For the Defense - Vol. 6, Issue 1 - 4

OPENING
STATEMENT

Peter E. Kratsa, PACDL President

" ... a lawyer is either a social engineer or a parasite on society. "

I

have a confession to make: I was a terrible law
student. Not unconvinced that I should have
instead been in medical school, I approached
law school as a life-interrupting means to an end. I
look back on that period of my life as, at best, a lost
opportunity to engage academically and, at worst, a
three year mandatory minimum sentence served as a
predicate to entering our profession. In all honesty, the
truth probably lies somewhere in between. Thankfully,
I have always found the practice of law to be much
more fulfilling...
I do remember, however, a professor citing the
above quote from Charles Hamilton Houston, " the
man who killed Jim Crow. " That quote really stuck
with me as standing for the proposition that we can
use our profession exclusively for self- aggrandizement
(wealth, fame or power) or we can try to do good (and
make a decent living in the process). As I've stated in
this space before: I truly believe the latter ultimately
yields greater personal fulfillment.

great responsibility and one which I am confident all
members of PACDL take very seriously. Unfortunately,
not everyone in our profession does the same and
the collective reputation of lawyers suffers as a result.
I write this one week after the events of January
6. I have strong opinions, like most Americans, as to
what has occurred in our country over the last four
years generally and the last few months specifically.
I reserve those opinions for social media and will
not share them here because I appreciate that not
every member of this Association may share those
opinions. However, I would hope we all agree that
arguing meritless, incendiary cases before courts,
absent facts, is a bad thing.

" Doing good " comes in many forms... obvious ones
like handling a pro bono case or donating our legal
expertise to a non-profit and more subtle ones like
mentoring a young lawyer or mending the relationship
of a disaffected client with a competing lawyer as
opposed to readily taking the case from that lawyer.

A mentor once told me: " No one case is worth your
reputation. " That's another thing that has guided me
in my legal career. We can be zealous advocates for
our clients no matter how repugnant they may appear
to the general public and regardless of whether we
actually like them. Those challenging cases, I suggest,
call upon us to best utilize our talent. We also will
take on cases which are very important to our careers
and we will want to win them like no other cases we
have had. Whether it be either of those scenarios, we
handle those cases ethically and professionally. And
that, my friends, is " doing good. "

Our law degree gives us access to opportunities
every day to positively affect people's lives. This is a

I would suggest we should all be heartened by the
response of our judiciary during these challenging

4

For The Defense l Vol. 6, Issue 1
For the Defense - Vol. 6, Issue 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of For the Defense - Vol. 6, Issue 1
