Kunstler's Advice To Young Lawyers

In 1971, the now-deceased William Kunstler offered the following advice to young lawyers in the Radical Lawyers: Their Role In The Movement And In The Courts anthology:

“If you lose sight of the goal, or begin to think that you’re foolish when you see your friends driving expensive motorcars, or living in expensive apartments or homes, so foolish and such a misfit that you must start to re-enter the system, then you are in danger. That is what will destroy the young lawyer.”

In his 1994 autobiography, My Life As A Radical Lawyer, Kunstler also made the following reference to Harvard University Law School Professor Alan Dershowitz:

“I would also never represent an individual like Leona Helmsley, who, although she has the same civil rights as anyone, is a rather detestable character with few redeeming qualities. This mogul could well afford a hired gun and did, in fact, eventually hire Alan Dershowitz; a frequent critic of mine, he is not one of my favorite people. I find it reprehensible when a man presents himself as a civil rights attorney, then represents wealthy clients for huge fees…If I’m going to be sensitive about disapproval from…a lawyer like Alan Dershowitz, who once called me the David Duke of the legal profession, I should have been a real estate salesman. Actually, criticism makes me feel that I’m doing exactly the right thing.”

(Downtown 9/20/95)

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