Every time I'm at some law school alumni function and someone asks me what I do (represent victims of sex abuse/rape/child molestation in civil cases) people pause and say, "Oh, wow. I am so glad you do that because I couldn't." Or they make a face, or they do both. This always annoys me, because what they invariably do - family law or criminal defense or environmental regulatory something or other - would make me want to poke my eyes out with sticks.
Because I'm a civil litigator. I think in terms of motions to dismiss and summary judgments and the discovery avalanche that goes with any civil case. It's just that my subject matter is a lot more, well, lurid than most other stuff that gets litigated. And I can't talk about my cases in polite company (which, fortunately, I don't spend much time in) or in front of my toddler (where I do spend a lot of time). Still, what I talk about at work all day, every day, is pretty nasty stuff. I just...forget that sometimes.
Case in point? I was asked my favorite hat movie while hat shopping. The first thing that popped into my head was M, because of the great men's hats. I started to explain the film - directed by Fritz Lang, stars Peter Lorre, fabulous film...about a child murderer/pedophile being pursued by a group of beggars and the cops. I went on and on until I realized what I was talking about and I stopped. (The other person's favorite hat movie? The original Thomas Crowne movie. I felt about three inches tall for imposing my weird world on her, even briefly.)
But it really is a great film. Heck, come on over, and we can watch it together - I have a special anniversary DVD version. We'll just have to wait 'til after Peach has gone to bed.
I was a paralegal for the criminal defense side of alleged pedophilia. One case argued about sentencing, and my whole job was to go through every reported case and profile it as described in the opinion, for the purpose of arguing our client's alleged crimes were less than the typical offender (the heartland defense).
Yuck yuck yuck. Even the dry legal opinions gave me the heebie jeebies.
But hey, no one ever said, "I'm sure glad you do that!" as a response to my describing my work!
Posted by: AnnaS | November 26, 2009 at 19:22
Well, wait, I should say, the charges were for allegedly distributing porn featuring minors, not pedophelia.
Posted by: AnnaS | November 26, 2009 at 19:25
Yeah, I'm really glad you do that work too! I think it's interesting, particularly being a tort nerd and thinking in terms of vicarious liability, negligent hiring/supervision, etc. Never having done these types of cases before though, I dunno what kind of softy I'd be. I can look at horrific accident scene photos while eating my lunch, but start talking about hurting a kid and I might start crying like a girl.
Posted by: Proto Attorney | November 30, 2009 at 11:16