I was interested in getting courtroom experience. When I was a young lawyer, the only way I could get real courtroom experience was in the criminal law field.

It’s absolutely terrifying to be staring down the muzzle of a gun.

As much as possible, we want to prevent cheats from entering this profession.

My father is a practicing criminal law attorney in the Seattle area.

As a lawyer, particularly in criminal law, you really do have to try to tell your story to the jury and hope that the judge makes rulings that allows your story to get through.

This is not to condone torture, which is still prohibited by the Torture Convention and federal criminal law.