Beat The Prosecution- Fairfax, Virginia, Criminal Defense / DUI Lawyer

Send us a textFairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz was invigorated early on by entertaining others, including performing magic shows for children's birthday parties and performing musically, including with improvisational music. That helped make criminal defense a natural destination on Jon Katz's path, with the spontaneity required of the work, and the engaging, performing and entertaining involved on the road of persuasion. Jon recently looked up what his fellow college alum Stephen Engel was up to, and found that that for decades Steve has been writing for and producing television comedy. With persuasive storytelling being a big part of criminal defense, Jon invited Steve to interview on the Beat the Prosecution podcast, to discuss the story development and storytelling process, engaging the audience, and dealing with the overall creative process. Steve Engel has been a writer for such television series as Big Bang Theory, Mad About You, A.N.T. Farm, and Dream On. His interest in writing scripts goes back many decades. Steve and two other students led a class on comedy that Jon selected when entering college, which introduced Jon to such great writings as A Confederacy of Dunces, Catch-22, and Portnoy's Complaint. Jack Kerouac's On The Road -- of course not a humor piece, but with humorousness therein -- remains among Jon's favorite books, and underlines the virtual limitlessness of human imagination and wordsmithing. Steve talks about keeping the audience's attention, avoiding unnecessary ad-libbing, and working as a team to produce entertainment. One of the most risky things about criminal defense can be to put the defendant on the witness stand, where the accused does not have a script for what is to happen during cross examination, but only tips from their lawyer -- and the defendant's hunches -- about what might be asked. Nonetheless, good script writing and acting can help inform trial lawyers how to keep the audience interested enough so that the attorney's message gets persuasively conveyed, and not drowned out by other noise and ideas happening in the courtroom. Steve started as a lawyer, and has some ideas for lawyers' courtroom presentations. In the courtroom, the jury or judge will write the ending to the story. That is part of the thrill of victory and agony of defeat of trials. This episode is also available on YouTube at https://youtu.be/avQDPrT3JQw.  This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at [email protected], 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textFairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz knows the power of a compellingly persuasive story. The elements of such a story can include setting a vivid scene, often with word pictures, a keen sense of the audience, and full engagement with the listeners. The story must not get lost in the translation. All of that lends itself well to this podcast episode's interviewee Matty Wegehaupt, who is an instructor of East Asian studies at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. Matty first came to Jon Katz's attention in his role as English translator of the great collection of the late Korean Buddhist teacher Beopjeong Sunim's writings, entitled May All Beings Be Happy. In this translation, Matty does an excellent job in conveying the words and essence of Beopjeong. With so many speakers of English as a second language in Northern Virginia, Jon Katz repeatedly represents clients whose first language is not English. When a language interpreter is needed, the right interpreter is needed, not merely someone fully bilingual in two languages, but someone who has the personal and cultural sensitivity to sufficiently convey the meaning of the speaker and to assist the testifying witness in understanding what is being asked of the witness. The interpreter must have the attention and readiness to ask a speaker to repeat what the interpreter does not sufficiently hear, while also paying sufficient attention to what is being said. Matty fully understands that. Interpreting and translating is an art, rather than some sort of robotic exercise. Listen to Matty's telling of his journey from the Air Force Academy to leaving the academy when recognizing that warfare was not for him, ultimately choosing to learn in Korea, and learning the language when doing so was with fewer resources than today. Matty talks about the greatness of Beopjeong Sunim, the lessons and ideas from Beopjeong's life and writings, Beopjeong's experience during the Korean dictatorship, and his ability to relate well with a wide range of people. Matty talks not only about the importance of not fearing death, but also not fearing life. This shedding of fear is so very important for fighting in court. Going one step further about not fearing life involves fully engaging with the people and circumstances around us, no matter how seemingly unpleasant or not, which is also essential in court. Treading one's own powerful path is also vital for trial lawyers. In that regard, Matty here talks about how he disregarded Beopjeong's wish for his writings not to continue in publication after his passing, to the point that after Beopjeong's passing, Matty translated this monk's Pure and Fragrant collection of essays. Matty's clear voice shines throughout this interview. ____This episode is also available on YouTube at https://youtu.be/Ykhyv_iCQhg.This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at [email protected], 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textFairfax, Virginia, criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz first met international relations expert and five-book author Abiodun Williams when they were university students. When Jon Katz at that first sit down mentioned all the very important things left to learn on his path, Abi summed up the right approach perfectly: "Information overload." Abi clearly has dealt with his share of expansive data and other information and writings, having tackled demanding obligations starting in his student years, followed by overseas peacemaking and conflict resolution missions, working with United Nations secretaries general, serving at a high level at the United States Institute for Peace, and now back as a professor of international relations.By now, Jon Katz has learned the persuasive, self development, internal health, and time management benefits of paring down the data bombarding our heads, by focusing on and working in the present moment; quieting the mind through mindfulness, taijiquan martial arts practice, and full attention and focus; and recognizing that trials are not about chasing the strength and preparedness of opponents, rather than to go to the courtroom battlefield fully prepared for the expected and unknown, fully focused on persuading the judge and jury, and not getting sucked into any sideshows presented by prosecutors and opposing witnesses.This entire conversation lends itself well to criminal defense work, where even a usually more desirable judge and more desirable prosecutor can seriously disappoint the criminal defense lawyer, if for no other reason than that their oaths, agendas and obligations are not the same as that of the criminal defense lawyer, and their personalities, tendencies and own frustrations are completely human.This talk includes discussing Roger Fisher's and William Ury's essential getting to yes approach to negotiations and conflicts, where the focus is on discovering and overlapping the parties' goals and interests rather than digging into positions and getting stuck over personalities (and, I add, transcending words that reach even the level of coming across as insults) of the negotiating parties. William Ury aptly talks about the importance of developing our own selves in the process of negotiating, including finding a pause to move in the right direction at a challenging crossroads, Fisher & Ury also address the best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA), where Jon Katz's BATNA usually is proceeding to trial.Abi Williams well exemplifies the spirit of mining and pursuing the possibilities in the midst of conflict, rather than getting sucked into any boobytraps or black holes along the way.____This episode is also available on YouTube at https://youtu.be/GfNV6Dp1YrM.This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at [email protected], 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textThis week’s podcast guest is Joseph Margulies, an accomplished civil rights litigator, author of three books and many online articles, and Cornell University professor. Joe was counsel of record in Supreme Court litigation that established the right of Guantanamo inmates and Americans detained abroad by American forces to challenge their detentions. He describes one of his current clients as having been “imprisoned and tortured in CIA black sites.”Joe and Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz graduated from their respective law schools a year apart. Joe's father, Irv, was a great lawyer who was a key mentor to Jon when the litigation partner at Jon's first law firm. Detours about Irv in this interview include his sharp mind, and Joe's and Irv's commonality about the importance of strong persuasive writing skills for litigators. Jon witnessed Irv’s taking even complex issues and getting right to the heart of the persuasive matter, with appropriate word imagery and emphasis. Irv's persona shines through in his combat veteran oral history.Starting with doing indigent criminal defense, Joe eventually shifted from mainly wanting to fight in court, to adopting a more client-focused approach that seeks to know his clients as people, as well as what happened in their life path that preceded their arrest and prosecution. That approach develops trust between a lawyer and client that cannot be substituted any other way, and enables the lawyer to persuasively advocate for their clients all the better.  Joe aptly says on his main professional webpage: “If history and science teach us anything, it is that any of us can do monstrous things, and if all of us can be monstrous, then none of us are monsters, which is why I do not believe in the Other, that mythical creature we are so quick to find and eager to cast out.”Asked about approaches to beating the prosecution, Joe admits that he has suffered defeats (as do all criminal defense lawyers), and focuses on the importance for a criminal defense lawyer to sharpen their writing skills, process, and re-writing. For writing excellence, Joe especially likes George Orwell, and addresses his essays, including “Politics and the English Language”.This episode is also available on YouTube and Apple podcasts. This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at [email protected], 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675

Send us a textStorytelling is a key part of persuading in court. In this Beat the Prosecution episode, Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz interviews one of his favorite storytellers, Danny Schnitzlein,  who penned The Monster Who Ate My Peas, which was the centerpiece of hundreds of bedtime stories told to Jon's son. Danny gives a fascinating look at his storytelling process, the key elements to a great story, and his continued connection with his inner child that enables his addressing fear and humor. Jon Katz  includes addressing the feeling aspect of stories, the healing potential in stories, and the benefit of storytelling for transporting the audience into the circle of the story in the present moment. Check out Danny's books The Monster Who Ate My Peas, Gnu and Shrew, The Monster Who Did My Math, and Monster Street. This episode also is available on YouTube and Apple podcasts. This podcast with Fairfax, Virginia criminal / DUI lawyer Jon Katz is playable on all devices at podcast.BeatTheProsecution.com. For more information, visit https://KatzJustice.com or contact us at [email protected], 703-383-1100 (calling), or 571-406-7268 (text). If you like what you hear on our Beat the Prosecution podcast, please take a moment to post a review at our Apple podcasts page (with stars only, or else also with a comment) at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beat-the-prosecution/id1721413675