Lady Justice Serves All of Mankind!

Inspiring to Become a “Philadelphia Lawyer”

After 20 years of practice as an attorney for the Defender Association of Philadelphia, I found myself reflecting on my experiences and the myriad of cases I had encountered throughout my career. This introspection sparked a newfound passion for writing, and I started to create a series of blog posts and compelling stories that captured the essence of my life as a lawyer, including the challenges and triumphs I faced in the courtroom.

These personal narratives, rich with insights and reflections, were published on Contoveros.WordPress.Com, where they resonated with readers for more than 15 years during my retirement, allowing me to connect with a wider audience and share the valuable lessons I learned in the pursuit of justice.

I have resurrected many of the articles dealing with my courtroom experiences and what life was like to argue a case for a criminal defendant. They will be published over the next few weeks with a date showing when the original stories were first written.

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I often tried to live up to the nomenclature of what is called a “Philadelphia Lawyer.”

     “Philadelphia lawyer” is a term used to describe a lawyer who knows the most detailed and minute points of law or is an exceptionally competent lawyer. Its first known usage dates back to 1788. A quote from an unknown source about a defendant facing a tough trial kind of sums it up:

“It would take a Philadelphia lawyer to get him off.”

      Philadelphia-based lawyer Andrew Hamilton is known for his legal victory on behalf of printer and newspaper publisher John Peter Zenger. He inspired the “Philadelphia lawyer” term after he challenged the order of a corrupt governor from a town in what was to become the state of New York. The official was believed to have been rigging elections, according to Zenger’s newspaper sources..

        This 1735 decision helped to establish that truth is a defense agaist a charge of libel. It also became one of the greatest examples of “jury nullification” when a New York judge at trial ruthlessly ordered the jurors to find the defendant guilty and the jury rejected his so-called order and rendered a verdict of “Not Guity” in only ten minutes.

     The Zenger case is being taught in both law school and journalism classes today. It is inspiring practitioners of both professions to always honor the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

(Please stay tuned for the series of courtroom trials I wrote about on Contoveros.Wordpress.com.