Dinner with the Defense Attorney
Building your network 101
My parents moved in 1997. Our real estate agent was named Tony. Talkative, bravado, Italian, fun guy, a guy who probably knew everyone.
He nicknamed me “The Mayor” when viewing places. Why?
Because I knew everyone whose house we were looking at. In fact, I persuaded my parents to buy the house they lived in for the next 25 years.
Even as a kid, I knew everyone and had a person for everything.
I don’t know everything, but I’m great at knowing someone that does.
Cernovich tweeted about this earlier in the week, and he’s right:
You NEED a guy or gal for everything! The Jungle is a perfect example. I joined in July 2021, and a few years later, I can DM anyone, ask a question, and get an answer.
Why?
I first added value. I am a high value cartoon with an expertise in public speaking, story telling, and criminal law. You can scroll my timeline and learn something every day.
Positive vibes. I make fun of the deep state and the communists, with everything else usually light and easy to consume. Like McDonalds without the buns. Sometimes I will go deep, like talking about Foster Kids being screwed, but even then I’ll tweet resources to help them out, retweet people adding value.
Responding and answering questions. I usually respond to comments, and will respond DM’s, although I do have a life outside of the internet so not always a minute later.
If you add value, seem positive and fun, and respond to people, you’ll do well in life AND people will respond back to you.
Back to dinner with my defense friend:
Last night I met up with a criminal defense attorney friend. We had been meaning to catch up for a while, but the standard family/work/whatever complex kept interfering.
He and I have had cases against each other for years, and the more we talk the more I see both sides (he’s good at that).
I also am reasonable with reasonable people. I defend my community from predators, but people who screw up and are proactive about treatment, etc, get breaks. Not every prosecutor is like that, as I’ve learned.
Dan and I have worked out many cases with creative solutions for his more one-time clients, and he appreciates that.
Separately, over the past 18 months, I’ve started to see cracks in the system. One would be standard field sobriety tests (SSFTs).
Can you complete them sober? Yes. Are they still tough? Yes.
They can be tricky, and having someone do them outside, at night, usually in a poorly lit area, surrounded by police, is not conducive for a great result.
I support police, but they are not always are best and brightest. They bark directions at people while walking away, they don’t explain everything properly, etc.
Defense friend and I discussed the SSFTs and other issues last night. It was fun to get his unfiltered opinion on them.
IT WAS BETTER GETTING HIS UNFILTERED OPINION ON EVERYTHING ELSE
Let’s call him Dan for now. Dan has this interesting theory on DUIs he calls the Jimmy Buffett theory:
everyone there is wasted, they all drive back
police do not issue 1,000 DUI tickets
there are not a string of fatal car crashes after a concert
so….what gives?
I’m not sure if his theory is really a theory yet (or I missed the punchline), but that was an interesting observation.
(I continue to think a podcast with criminal defense attorneys, and retired judges, prosecutors, and bailiffs would crush, so when you see one in the next year or so, that’s probably me but shhhhhhhhh)
Dan also warned me about certain attorneys, especially in the family law field. He said he thought all sides collude and are in on it, which was eye opening. He HATES family law, which is why he said he will refer me cases.
As someone who has spent more time than he’d like to admit in child rape land, for me, family law is a drop in the bucket.
Life is hard enough on your own, build your network
Last night was fun and informative. Dan likes drinking and football, and I like football but don’t drink much anymore and train bjj, so he invited me over for an upcoming game, and I said he should bring his kids and HIM to my bjj gym. I’m guessing we will watch football before training bjj, but who knows.
Either way, Dan is now firmly in my local network.
Take the time to get to know people and add them to yours.
NAMASTE,
Kong
Great article- in a good way illustrates the importance of why having a network is key