Any lawyer, whether practicing corporate or commercial law, will be far more fulfilled as a human being and as a lawyer if some part of life is devoted to public interest work, says attorney Thomas Mesereau.
Mesereau, who in recent years made headlines for defending celebrity clients Michael Jackson and Robert Blake, knows this from personal experience, he told USC Law students during an Oct. 24 talk sponsored by the Public Interest Law Foundation and the Criminal Law Society.
“Public interest work nourishes your soul, nourishes your spirit, really teaches you what it means to be a better human being and a better trial lawyer – someone who is successful in society and makes a difference,” Mesereau said.
Along with Mablean Ephraim, the “Divorce Court” judge, and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Mesereau heads the MEV Free Legal Clinic in Los Angeles. The clinic hosts guest speakers from community activists to the media and lawyers, who educate clinic clients on issues such as renters’ rights.
Mesereau has taken pro bono cases throughout his career, he said, often through friends or people he met through previous pro bono work. He also travels to the Deep South once each year to defend a death penalty case pro bono.
“Nothing teaches you more about yourself than this kind of work,” Mesereau said. “You’re doing it because your soul and your spirit tell you there’s something more than just being an intellectual lawyer. I want something more than that.”
Mesereau also had some criminal defense advice. Try cases as though the defense has the burden, he said, rather than rely too heavily on “reasonable doubt.” But many things – such as knowing when it’s OK to let a witness speak freely on direct examination – can only be learned in the courtroom.
“One of the things about trying cases that you won’t learn in a law school, and in fact you really won’t learn anywhere, is that it’s a very human process,” he said. “The more you know about people, the more intuitions you have about what makes people tick --what their hopes and dreams, what their failures are, what their fears are -- the better you’re going to be in a courtroom.”
The best way to learn about people, and at the same time find out how a jury will think, is to get outside the law firm, Mesereau noted.
“You learn about them in the streets, in the ‘hood, in the free clinics,” he said. “You learn about them by embracing people, and loving them and caring about them and learning about them and fighting for people who usually have no hope and no one who really cares.”
The MEV Free Legal Clinic is seeking law students to volunteer their time. A clinic will be held Saturday, Oct. 28 at 11 a.m. at 1900 W. 48th St., Los Angeles, CA 90064.
Previous Article
