After graduating from Vanderbilt Law School in 2000, I began working at a large law firm in Phoenix, Arizona.  While my position was as a commercial litigation associate, I quickly learned that the “litigation” component of my job consisted almost entirely of researching caselaw and writing various motions and legal memoranda.  I seldom, if ever, went to an actual courthouse.  Civil cases tend to drag on for years, and the client was most usually a corporation being sued by an individual or another company for some alleged wrongdoing.  If I did a great job, my work might influence more favorable settlement terms for the client.  I was paid well, but was ultimately unsatisfied with performing what I termed the “legal gymnastics” of filing endless motions and responses.

I left the law firm in 2002 and joined the Maricopa County Public Defender’s Office.  My former colleagues were shocked: why on earth would I willingly leave a coveted position with the region’s premier law firm, take a drastic pay cut, and become a public lawyer who defends criminals?  Maybe becoming a prosecutor would be understandable, but a criminal defense attorney?