When I first considered entering law school, an attorney I know told me that there were only three types of people who went to law school: those who didn't know what else to do; those that were in it for the money; and the few who were naive enough to think that they could change the world.
For me it became clear quite quickly which category I fell into. I have always felt a drive to attempt to speak for those that nobody wanted to listen to. In my third year of law school, I interned with the Salt Lake Legal Defenders Association, which gave me an up close look at how the criminal justice system treated those who had been accused of a crime. Not only was I not impressed, I was offended. Nobody seemed willing to look the accused in the eye, to listen to their story, or to strive for what I would call true justice.
There was never any doubt from that point that I would become a criminal defense attorney. For me the thing that in the past has most distinguished the United States has been how our country has protected the rights of the individual. It is my commitment to ensure that my clients' rights will be protected no matter the cost.