You know that phrase in The Pledge of Allegiance? "With Liberty and Justice for All"? Well, you know what? I actually believe in that.

I've been at this for a while, and I've seen first-hand the affects that false accusations can have on people. And I've come to understand how the government can turn against its citizens - by leveling charges that aren't based on facts. Most people don't understand that until it happens to them, or their loved ones.

So criminal-defense work has always appealed to me. There's an adventure to the process - we defense attorneys have to be a gladiator, a gunfighter for justice in the courtroom.

When clients see me for the first time, I simply listen. I'm a good listener and I've always been able to relate well to all types of people. There's a street term for that: "I Feel You."

That doesn't mean I always agree with what everyone is saying. Sure, I'll acknowledge where they are coming from. I may even agree with it. But later, down the road, I may try to show them how to see things differently from how they are describing things to me initially. This approach works well with all types of people: rich and white-collar, or middle-class and blue-collar.

When a client of mine is wrongly accused, I think the only absolute success is an acquittal - when the client is able to walk out of the courtroom on his own. That to me is an outright win.

Even in my training as a lawyer I took a practical, real-world approach to the law. I wasn't always bookish about it - it was the "doing" and "being" of a lawyer that counted to me.

Every year of my 40 plus years in this profession I have become a better lawyer. I've become more perceptive and sensitive of people. I never dismiss what someone has to say. How you relate to others is important - especially when you are representing someone charged with a crime. You've got to feel them, and feel everything that's going on with them. Then, you're representing a flesh-and-blood human being, and not just a client.