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On Tuesday, October 4th the BBA's
Senior Lawyers Section will host The
Ethics of John Adams, where an Adams expert will discuss the
ethical issues that confronted Adams when he represented the "Massacre"
defendants. This case is one of the most famous in our nation's
history, and got BBA Week
wondering:
"If you could try any case in history,
what would it be?"
If you would like to respond to a future Voices of the
Bar, make sure you send a headshot, and
contact Eric Fullerton at efullerton@bostonbar.org. |
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Bill Tsingos - VP and General Counsel,
Plymouth Rock Assurance "If I could step into the
shoes of any one lawyer from any case in history it would be
those of Robert H. Jackson, chief counsel for the United
States at the Nuremberg war trials. We often define
justice and effective lawyering in terms of preventing an
innocent person from being wrongly convicted. Think To
Kill a Mockingbird. Nuremberg and Jackson’s example
present a different aspect of the lawyer’s calling—to see the
truth prevail and justice done in the face of all crime, most
especially crimes against innocent humanity."
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Angelica Vargas – Disability Law
Center
"If I could go back in time and try any
case in history, I think I would go to 1872 and defend Susan
B. Anthony in her trial on the charge of illegal voting.
The only problem I guess would be that I might get arrested
myself for trying to practice law while being a
woman!"
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Christina Serrano - Wayne, Richard & Hurwitz
LLP
"I would love to have been part of the Miranda
v. Arizona decision. The Miranda rights resulting from
the case convey essential rights in just a few
sentences. Over the years, Miranda rights have become a
deeply engrained element of our county’s criminal justice
system, with most Americans being able to quote them without
thought (though we’ll thank Hollywood for that). And yet
even with its history, and considering the length of the
opinion itself, the legal basis, interpretation, and
application of Miranda remain controversial topics. It
would be an exciting challenge to draft an opinion just as
strong as Miranda, but with less loopholes and
controversy."
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Donald Tye – Prince Lobel Tye
"As a
result of the inequities in the Leo Frank Trial (1913), and
his lynching, the new Ku Klux Klan was founded to promote
their agenda of racial and religious hatred, and members of
Atlanta's outraged Jewish community created
the Anti-Defamation League to combat anti-Semitism. One
of my dreams is to have replaced Luther Rosser as lawyer for
the defense."
"The discovery of the body of a thirteen-year-old girl in
the basement of an Atlanta pencil factory where she had gone
to collect her pay check shocked the citizens of crime-ravaged
Atlanta and roused its public officials to find a suspect and
secure a conviction. Unfortunately, events and the
South's anti-Semitism conspired to lead to the conviction of
the wrong man, the factory superintendent, Leo Frank.
The case ultimately drew the attention of the United States
Supreme Court and the Governor of Georgia, but neither the
Constitution nor a Governor's commutation could spare Leo
Frank a violent death at the end of rope strung from a Georgia
oak tree."
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