Louis Goodman - I Got A Job!

Louis Goodman – Short Monologue - Transcript

[00:00:03] Louis Goodman: Welcome to Love Thy Lawyer, where we talk with attorneys about their lives and careers. I'm your host, Louis Goodman. Today's episode is a little different. Instead of interviewing a lawyer, I wanna tell you a story about something that's recently happened in my own career. I got a job.

[00:00:24] After spending nearly 40 years as a private criminal defense attorney, I'm about to become an Alameda County Deputy District Attorney, again. By the time you hear this, I'll once again be serving in the Alameda County District Attorney's office. I first started clerking for that office in 1979. I graduated from Hastings College of the Law in 1980 and in 1981, Lowell Jensen hired me as a Deputy District Attorney.

[00:00:55] I'm quite sure I was the last Deputy DA that Lowell hired. Alameda County was a different place then. The courthouses were smaller. The legal community was tighter, and if you practiced criminal law long enough, you came to know just about everyone in the system, prosecutors, public defenders, judges, and the lawyers who made their living moving from courtroom to courtroom.

[00:01:18] It was a place where young lawyers learned quickly because the cases came fast and the expectations were high. During my time in the office, I handled a wide variety of criminal matters at every stage of the process, everything from trespassing cases to murder, I handled countless misdemeanor motions, preliminary hearings in felony cases, tried more than 50 cases to jury verdict, and covered both misdemeanor and felony calendars.

[00:01:48] There were many people who shaped the way I think about the law during those early years, far too many to name, but I do wanna mention three lawyers and a judge. Buzz de Vega taught me how to manage lawyers, deal with cops, and put out administrative fires. Bob Chambers taught me about the politics of the office and the inside baseball of the Alameda County criminal justice system. And Harvey Harmel, a public defender, taught me something invaluable, that there was rarely a case that couldn't be plea bargained. I spent my last year in the district attorney's office assigned to department one in Hayward in front of Judge Bob Fairwell. Carl Payne had brought me down to Hayward from the courthouse in Oakland because he thought I'd be a good fit along with Greg Guybison to help clean up what had become a very difficult and somewhat overloaded misdemeanor calendar.

[00:02:54] Judge Fairwell had a reputation. He wasn't known for getting along with prosecutors, and a number of prosecutors didn't really care for him either.

[00:03:02] On my first day in his courtroom, I asked permission to approach the bench and introduce myself. He shook my hand coolly and simply said, Bob Fairwell. For the next week or two we worked together without saying much to each other, and his chamber's door was always closed. Then one day he said something to me about how he liked the way I had handled a series of cases, and after that we began to talk.

[00:03:33] Soon we were having coffee in his chambers with just about every South County lawyer who came through the Hayward Courthouse. And I began to understand him. I watched him give candy to the children of defendants. I noticed how he treated everyone in his courtroom with dignity and respect, and he knew how to move a calendar, take a plea, and still get everybody to lunch on time. Long after I left the District Attorney's office and after he had retired, I would bring a box of donuts over to his little Irish cottage in the Hayward Hills, and visit with him, his family, and his dogs. He was a great man and if there is a heaven, there's a special place in it for Judge Bob Fairwell. I left the District Attorney's office on very good terms, I might add, in 1987. At the time, I assume that chapter of my life was closed. As it turns out, it wasn't somehow between that day and this one, nearly 40 years have passed.

[00:04:48] During those years, I opened a criminal defense practice in Alameda County with the help of many people along the way, especially Tracy Harvey. I learned how to run a law practice, how to represent people at the worst moments of their lives, how to run a business, how to be an entrepreneur, and eventually how to start a podcast, which brings me to the current District Attorney of Alameda County, Ursula Jones Dickson.

[00:05:18] I've known Ursula for about 25 years. For roughly half that time, she prosecuted criminal cases as a Deputy District Attorney, and after that she was elevated to the bench where she served as a Superior Court Judge. So I was pleasantly surprised when in an unusual and rather gutsy career move she stepped down from the bench to accept the appointment from the Board of Supervisors to become the District Attorney of Alameda County. As a podcaster and as a lawyer, I wanted to understand that decision. Ursula agreed to come on the Love Thy Lawyer podcast for an interview.

[00:06:02] All I can say is that during that conversation and in the off air conversation surrounding it, we seemed to hit it off. But to be honest, I just didn't think much about it at the time. About six months later, things changed. I don't remember the exact sequence of events, but I called someone on her team about a social media post I had seen, and Ursula called me back. We ended up meeting for lunch sometime around Thanksgiving and I don't know how else to describe it, but for me, there was a certain magic in the air. Ursula said some things that made me think I might be able to help her fulfill her vision for the District Attorney's Office.

[00:06:53] I told her that if she'd have me, I'd be happy to work for her in whatever way she thought best. A week later we met again in her office along with some members of the DA's leadership team, and that's when we sealed the deal. Since that time, with a great deal of help from Tracy and Phil Schnayerson, I've successfully closed my law practice.

[00:07:21] Life has a way of bringing things full circle. Everything I know about being a lawyer, everything I know about the criminal justice system, everything I know about standing up in a courtroom I learned in the Alameda County District Attorney's office many years ago. So it is truly the honor of a lifetime to return to that office once again as a Deputy District Attorney.

[00:07:54] Thank you, Ursula Jones Dickson, for placing your trust in me. I promise to serve you, the office and the people of Alameda County to the very best of my ability.

[00:08:12] If you'd like to hear my conversation with Alameda County District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson, you can find that interview on the Love Thy Lawyer website. Season six, June 18th, 2025. And as always, thanks for listening to Love Thy Lawyer, where we talk with attorneys about their lives and careers.

[00:08:38] That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[00:08:45] That's it for today's episode of Love Thy Lawyer. If you enjoyed listening, please share it with a friend and follow the podcast. If you have comments or suggestions, send me an email. Take a look at our website at lovethylawyer.com, where you can find all of our episodes, transcripts, photographs and information.

Thanks to my guests, and to Joel Katz for music, Bryan Matheson for technical support, Paul Robert for social media and Tracy Harvey. I'm Louis Goodman.

[00:09:24] That's my story and I'm sticking to it.