One often gets suggestions for a column some from prosecutors, criminal defense lawyers and actual litigants, and some even from judges. Some suggestions are good, others not so. Typically, the "suggesters," from any component in the criminal justice system, have skin in the game, and may believe that a writer might actually have general or even case-specific influence. Probably not, and not the purpose here.
Against this backdrop, one might easily conclude that virtually every criminal defense attorney in New York (and elsewhere) believes that at some point during his career at least one of his clients was "screwed" by his adversary’s ethical improprietywhether committed by the line assistant, her bureau chief (or both), or even a higher up. And, the lawyers who actually empathize with their clientsas the truly able ones often dobelieve that they, too, were screwed in the process.
