Hi! I practice exclusively criminal law - defense side - and I have always worked for the State. So, I'm a poor public defender. But a pretty happy one. I was pretty sure I would be a public-service type lawyer so that's why it was key for me to get in-state tuition. I did trial work at first and I've been doing criminal appeals for about six years now. I tried being a prosecutor briefly, but it just wasn't me. I also worked as an attorney for the Missouri State Senate, which was a great job. Again, no dinero, but fun.

Working for the State Senate sounds like a good job. Wow public defender...that takes a lot out of you for not a lot of reward. Tons of Kudos to you... I don't think I could ever be a Prosecutor nor a Criminal Defense Attorney.

At the time I was applying the big news - nationwide, mind you -was that there was a glut of lawyers. In '93-'94, people kept saying that there were more people in law school at that moment than there were practicing lawyers in the entire country. This wasn't just the buzz of my law-school bound peers, this was in the news. Over and over again I heard from the media that there would never be enough jobs for all of the people going to law school. I went anyway and I have never had trouble getting a job.

So what I'm driving at is that you should tune out what everyone else has to say. It will only freak you out. You're going for it and you can do it.

My dad is an attorney in New Jersey, and NJ only has public defenders for capital cases - so the attornies in the state get to do pro bono work for indigent criminals (works out well for the criminals because in many cases, they end up with a better attorney)... Some of the cases that he gets are ...uhh.. interesting... He's mentioned some of them - and all I could think was why did you get the guy off - throw his ass in jail... and let it rot there...

Thanks soo much. I think I really am just psyching myself out. Studying alone really makes me feel all alone in it. You really have no idea how much better you have made me feel =0)

That's the exact reason I could never be a defense attorney...

That's where I come in . . . all of my clients have already been convicted and are rotting in jail. Trust me, I don't do it for the clients themselves, I do it for the fairness of the process. Actually, these days I do it for the good health benefits, the casual environment and most especially the flexible hours. . .

Good! I'm glad! You're in this for your own goals, forget everyone else!

Doing it for the process is a good point. There are many flaws in the process and the process is violated quite often. The flexible hours must be great!