Lawyer Turned Writer

But I digress… October 2024

Thirty years ago, I (along with three other young lawyers) was sworn in as an Assistant Hennepin County Attorney. I stuck with that job for twenty-six years, more than one hundred jury trials, and a ton of conflict and stress.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved my job and—most of the time—believed that I was doing the right thing. At the very end of my career, I represented the county in tax appeal and eminent domain cases. It didn’t take long for me to loath civil practice, and thankfully, my retirement date came along just in time…

As of the first of this month, I am no longer authorized to practice law.

I did not pay the annual renewal fee. It’s been four years since I last practiced law, and exactly zero opportunities for lawyering have presented themselves. It’s time. The weird thing about the Minnesota Bar is that there’s no way to gracefully exit the practice of law. I was given four options, and the only one that would work for my actual situation cannot occur until I’m sixty-eight years old.

It’s obvious they’d prefer I just continue to pay each year for the privilege of being in good standing, even if I checked the “INACTIVE” box, which I’ve been doing for the past four years. I’ll say it a different way: it’s been costing me exactly the same amount of money to be an inactive lawyer as it would if I were practicing law.

I could have “resigned,” but apparently, “resigning from the Minnesota bar is a major professional decision and is not an effective strategy for avoiding registration fees.” (They added the bolding for emphasis!)

Ultimately, in Minnesota, there’s no winning strategy for walking away from the practice of law, so I’ve taken the one that required the least amount of work. Of course a week later, I received a notice in the mail that a $75 late fee was now tacked onto my bill. Good grief. Some may consider the annual fee insignificant. I do not.

Instead, I used part of my lawyer registration fee to pay for a membership in the Author’s Guild. It’s like being in a union for authors! I wasn’t even eligible to join until I’d published a book. The timing has worked out. On the same day I got my late fee notice from the Minnesota Bar, I received a welcome email from the Author’s Guild. 😊

One of the first things I learned when I began my author journey in early 2021, was that I needed to “brand” myself. I came up with Lawyer Turned Writer, and I think it’s a good one!

BOOK NEWS:

I’m having a blast working on my next book, tentatively titled “Consciousness of Guilt.” I’ve reconnected with the lead investigator on the case, and we’ve surprised each other with tidbits one of us knew or remember, that the other did not. I think this story will be a fun read for all readers who enjoy true crime! I plan to share progress updates with my paid subscribers, so if you want to be among the first to get that news, upgrade your subscription today!

Crossing Fifty-One continues to amaze me with its appeal to readers. In a couple of weeks, I’ll be participating in a book club with members of my former office and I’m looking forward to the discussion. I’ve also gotten notes from readers letting me know they’re recommending my book for their book clubs! Thank you all so much for the support!

Ratings and reviews continue to be the most important tool for getting the word out. If you have a minute, you can leave a rating at Amazon right here:

In other news, the Minnesota Star Tribune recently published another piece I wrote. In this one, I reacted to a report on a murder case from 2009 that had been prosecuted by my former office.

You can read the whole thing here:

A former colleague contacted me, expressing outrage. The comments were decidedly mixed. Fellow lawyers wanted to debate. Debate is fine, but sometimes it should just be okay to agree to disagree. I’ve discovered that asking lawyers to do that can be challenging, especially if they’re enmeshed in the situation. After all, we’re conditioned to be zealous advocates! 🤨

These days, I’ve discovered that time and space has created an evolution of my opinions about the criminal justice system generally, as well as some of the work of my former office more specifically. I sometimes think if I hadn’t ended up being a lawyer, I’d have enjoyed working as an investigative reporter. I love research and digging out facts, and the new book is providing plenty of opportunities for that kind of work!

Do you ever think about doing a different sort of job? Let me know in the comments…

~ Until next month!

~ Debbie

An interesting thing I read this month:

This article in the Atlantic caught my eye. I remember being assigned to read Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy in high school. I loved reading, but struggled with Tolstoy. Now, it seems, kids are reading less and less, and that makes me sad.

October Book Recommendations:

Fiction: The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger

I read this book in July after buying it almost a year ago to support a local bookstore. Hardcovers aren’t cheap, but I wanted to reciprocate the store’s support of me as a local author, and also to support one of Minnesota’s most beloved authors.

It was my first Krueger book and it did not disappoint. I especially enjoyed the depth and complexity of the characters. It didn’t hurt that it was a murder investigation!

Nonfiction: Unnecessary Roughness by Jose Baez

In retrospect, I believe this book influenced my thinking for my opinion piece in the Star Tribune. The facts of the two cases were quite similar: 1) drive-by shootings with a bunch of unreliable witnesses, and 2) focus on a certain suspect with very little supporting evidence. The difference? A REALLY GOOD defense attorney.