Mock trial experience

• Author: Bill Levit

ABA JOURNAL | WiNteR 2019-2020

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ABAJournal-Letters | September 26, 2019 9:12 AM

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Redesigned Journal

Way back when, in prehistoric times, I

was the associate publisher of the ABA

Journal. We embarked on a redesign

of the magazine, as you just did in the

September-October issue. It was 30-plus

years ago. Only Debra Cassens Weiss on

the current staff might recall those days.

I simply write to congratulate you

and the staff. It is not easy taking such

a step. Heart-stopping at times, in fact.

You will have complaints. Don’t ignore

them; some will have validity. But also

move on knowing that the redesign

breathes fresh life into the Journal.

Soon after our redesign, we mis-

spelled “plaintiff” on the cover (“plan-

tiff”). We then received my favorite

letter to the editor of all time: Dear

Journal: I would like to le a complant.

Things happen, but worse than any

complaint you will receive is doing

nothing at all. The time was ripe for a

refresh, and you did well.

Don Oppenheim

Berkeley, California

Law by the numbers

In the article “Inside the Legal Profes-

sion” September-October, page 39, the

gures you report are misleading. You

state average (mean) lawyer earnings

of $144,230 in 2018. However, income

distributions do not follow a normal

distribution where the mean and the

median are the same. Income distribu-

tions are skewed to the right, meaning

average (mean) incomes are much

higher than median incomes.

The report you cite states medi-

an earnings were $120,910. Median

incomes are much more representative

of what the typical lawyer earns than

mean (average) incomes. In this case,

the mean or average is 19% higher than

the median, and in total dollars, the

difference is $23,000; quite a contrast.

Néstor Enrique Cruz

Falls Church, Virginia

Mock trial experience

Reading “Trial Runs,” September-Oc-

tober, page 24, about Kirkland & Ellis’

providing a substitute for the vanishing

trial with its mock trial program, calls

to mind the innovative program Davis

Polk implemented in the 1960s. As a

young associate, I was seconded to the

criminal branch of the Legal Aid Society

in Foley Square to try misdemeanors

and felonies in New York state court for

what was intended to be three months.

The program was developed by Bob

Fiske, who later would become the U.S.

attorney for the Southern District of

New York and the rst Whitewater in-

dependent counsel. Because he thought

I had a productive three-month stint, I

was able to continue with Legal Aid for

a number of additional months with the

rm paying my regular compensation.

Not long after I returned to Davis Polk,

I was given almost two months’ leave

with full pay to try a lengthy felony

case. Although the [Kirkland Institute

for Trial Advocacy] program is certainly

better than having no real trials, it pales

compared to the actual trial experience

that a number of Davis Polk associates,

including me, were able to get through

the Legal Aid Society in Manhattan.

Bill Levit

Milwaukee

Correction

“The Best Places to Practice,” Septem-

ber-October, page 46, should have stat-

ed that Alabama’s median home price

was $141,300.

The Journal regrets the error.

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