Honor Trial
I haven't written much in the last week, largely because I haven't had a lot of time to be online. Even moreso because the thing that has suddenly taken up so much of my time is something I can't discuss in much detail. Those familiar with the University of Virginia Honor System probably know that a student accused of an Honor violation is entitled to a trial before a jury (made up of either random students, Honor Committe members, or a mix). Well, through contacts between one of my professors and a local law firm, I have been asked to serve as defense counsel for an upcoming honor trial. We go to trial on April 10, and I first met the accused student last Friday, so you can imagine how quickly these things proceed.
In addition to the mere time pressures resulting from this accelerated schedule, this is just a stressful time for all law students. Exams are just around the corner, I just finished a citecheck on Monday and am getting another on Friday. So things are busy. But even beyond the quantitative pressures on my ability to juggle these various responsibilties, the qualitative weight of the responsibility of being a defense counsel on an Honor Trial is pretty heavy. I am exercising real discretion and bear real responsibility for a real client who is facing serious sanctions (the single potential sanction, in fact, is permanent expulsion). That is not something I was expecting to experience while still in law school. That is obviously the great benefit of being involved in such an endeavor, but the sudden epiphany of the scope of an advocate's duty and responsibility to his client has come as quite a shock.
From what I have gathered, that weight is all the heavier in cases where a defense attorney is truly convinced of their client's innocence. There is no way to seek solace in the event of defeat by recognizing that ultimately, it is the client's fault for having committed the crime. When the client really is innocent, it seems that much harder to see a conviction as anything other than a failure on your part as defense counsel. Let's hope I don't have to bear that burden right out of the gates.
