10 Reasons It Doesn’t Pay to be a Public Defender

From public defender blogger Between A Laugh And A Tear:

10. Most of your accomplishments are invisible and not attributed to you.

Most clients and their families do not understand that a lot what goes on in a criminal case is outside the courtroom. From the legal research, the investigation, the plea negotiations, the formulation of the defense, drafting motions, getting witnesses to court, these are things that clients do not see first hand. Also, even with all the hard work that you put into a case, you are not given credit for it. Usually, the client is bitter that it took so long for the world to see their innocence or they attribute it to divine intervention or to some other reason. It couldn’t have been you. You are a just a public pretender. You work for the state. Yeah, right.

8. You are an all-knowing expert on every aspect of the law, both criminal and civil.

I have been asked about estate planning, corporate law, family law, and almost everything in between. Look, I am a criminal defense attorney. Don’t ask me about how to fight a child support order, how to do a divorce or some other civil crap. If I liked that kind of law, I would be doing it, and not defending your ass.

7. Your Talents are Forcibly Unvalued and Compensated.

Most taxpayers resent our presence in the first place (until they need us). So, they have no problem paying us a small penance and handle a large caseload. Hell, they are all guilty anyway; so why bother work on a case? Well, jackass, while I have serve reservations about my clients’ ability to be truthful, that does not relieve me of my professional duty to investigate the case and force the State to live up to their obligation to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

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