“Ready For the Big Bucks?!”
Do you like your job because of what you do or because it pays you well?
I’ve said it once before — law school chose me. I also like to think that a career as a public defender chose me as well. Have you ever had a major part of your life just choose you?
Law school chose me because I didn’t grow up aspiring to become a fancy lawyer that wore fancy suits, drove a fancy car, and said fancy words in a courtroom that ended with “Your Honor.” I grew up aspiring to be a doctor. Still uncertain where that aspiration came from — my mother had a career working in the post office and my father had a career working with the NYC Transit Authority. Maybe that desire came from something I was introduced to. Maybe it was whispered to me on more than one occasion that the goal is to be “smart” and “smart” people become doctors. Who knows?!
Once law school chose me, I accepted it and ran with it. I did what was needed to get into and through law school. One thing’s for sure, I started my law school career aspiring to be a criminal defense attorney. But funny thing, I always imagined myself as a big, fancy lawyer, with huge billboards plastered all over the city. (I don’t think I imagined myself planting roots in Athens, GA. I don’t think I even thought that far ahead). I envisioned myself on a billboard standing with my arms crossed, a nice smile on my face, and the words “The Carter Law Firm” written across it. Little did I know, I would be connected with a public defender office, fall in love with the office and the work, and establish a long-term and successful career as a public defender!
We all know living a life of a public defender doesn’t pay that well. And we all know that I am not in this line of work for the money. Some of my law school classmates, mentors, and even clients ask me “when are to going to go private?!” Some of my clients even tell me they’ll help pay my startup costs haha! I am not the type to put God into a box, so I don’t know if and when He will have me move into a different profession or onto a different city, but my answer is always “never, I love what I do!” And that’s the truth!
Some of my classmates and mentors started out as public defenders, but now they are either practicing personal injury law or have opened their own private criminal defense firm. What is personal injury law exactly?
Personal injury law, also known as tort law, is designed to protect you if you or your property is injured or harmed because of someone else’s act or failure to act. In a successful tort action, the one who caused the injury or harm compensates the one who suffered the losses.
American Bar Association
The word tort might throw you off, but just think about personal injury law as car accidents, sometimes injuries at work or inside a grocery store, or any other moment where harm is caused to you/your person. (Please do not ask me any legal advice regarding any possible personal injury claim because (1) I do not give out free advice and (2) I do not have any expertise in the area of personal injury law).
I do not want to move from Athens to another city like Atlanta because Atlanta and the surrounding counties have wayyyy too many car accidents. Like, drivers in Atlanta must love to cause traffic for us outsiders because they love to rear-end other drivers and block our lanes of travel! Lol! That’s why personal injury lawyers in Atlanta will never go out of business, including Keith D. Leshine Attorney At Law, LLC.
I know personal injury law pays more than being a public defender. It might even pay more than practicing criminal law in private practice. There is a sense of fulfillment in practicing personal injury law; you are still working for someone and for a good cause. You are still able to be a positive impact on someone’s life when they are dealing with challenging times. You still have the opportunity to rectify a wrong and serve justice. Those are some attributes of criminal defense that I love in my role as a public defender. Someone’s life is now in shambles because of an arrest, and I have the opportunity to be a positive impact on and in their life. I might not make the big bucks like an Auto Accident Lawyer in Duluth GA, but I like to think we are both out here changing the world for the better!
“Give a serving to seven, and also to eight, for you do not know what evil will be on earth.” — Ecclesiastes 11:2, NKJV.
Moni Jay, Off the Record
