I’m violating a cardinal rule of mine here. I have a firm policy that if anyone wants me to do something for free or make a donation, I need a phone call rather than an email. HOWEVER, when the editor at MyCity Magazine reached out and asked if I would like to contribute a quarterly article about legal matters, my immediate response was, “Yes. Like this idea. A lot.”
So, here we are. I will be writing articles that I hope will be (somewhat) hilarious and (maybe) informational.
By way of introduction, I am a criminal defense attorney with an office in Downtown Flint. I represent people charged with everything from small misdemeanors to first degree murder and everything in between. My practice is specialized – I don’t do wills, I don’t do divorces. I stick to what I know and what I am good at.
On the personal side, I have two kids ages 7 and 9, and a wife whom I constantly annoy. She’s pretty cool. We have two gerbils that joined the family in the early days of the pandemic because that’s just what people did in those days … or so I’m told.
I would love to answer any law-related questions you may have, so please send any and all thoughts to sherron@mycitymag.com, or you can message me directly on Instagram @attorneynicholasrobinson. If no questions are submitted, you’ll have to live with what I want to talk about, or I will make up a question from a fictitious person and pretend that this column is actually being read by billions (possibly trillions) of people worldwide. I am not under oath here, so my obligation to tell the truth in this forum is shaky, at best.
Speaking of the truth and obligations – one thing that EVERYONE thinks about lawyers is that they lie. Let me say this about that: the good ones do not.
In this job – especially in Flint, MI – if people don’t trust your word, you’re dead in the water. You will never have a productive conversation with a prosecutor or be able to advocate for your client in front of a judge if people can’t trust what you say. When I speak with my clients, there are plenty of times when I have to give them information they might not want to hear. This might involve discussing the facts of the case, how many years in prison they are facing, or what I think a judge might do during sentencing. If my client is not properly advised, even if I have to give them terrible news, I am failing my client. If I lied to my client, they would be put in a bad position to make what is usually one of the most important decisions they will ever have to make.
Are there times when I say something that turns out to be untrue? Of course. There have been several times when I have called a prosecutor after having a discussion with a client when I let them know that something I previously stated turned out to be false, and this is always a productive conversation. In this job, as in life, it is always easier to fix problems if you are out in front of them.
Do some lawyers lie? Maybe. But again, the good ones do not.
Take care and be safe out there.
