In Chapter 9 of 9 in her 2009 Capture Your Flag interview, lawyer and public defender Julia Green shares how she learned about forgiveness and redemption from her parents. By leading by example repeatedly through her childhood, Green witnesses her parents set a precedent fighting for the underdog, offering forgiveness, and enabling redemption. Their actions embolden their daughter to make a greater difference in her career. Beyond education and law school experiences, Green finds motivation to fight for her clients and offer them a second chance. Julia Green is a federal public defender working in New York City. She earned a law degree from Georgetown and a bachelors degree from the University of Michigan.
In Chapter 8 of 9, Federal Public Defender Julia Green finds purpose supporting the underdog defendant, the person who has never had someone stand up for them before. Negative news is commonplace in her work, as over 90% of cases going to trial result in conviction and over 80% of defendants plead guilty. Green finds positive moments by serving, educating, and consoling client's families. In defending individuals who have never been supported, Green applies an incrementally improving mastery of law, including confrontation and cross-examination techniques, to provide clients and their families the best defense possible.
In Chapter 7 of 9, federal court defense work teaches lawyer Julia Green to be less judgmental and to ask why rather than what when hearing defendants stories. An additional lesson, and fulfillment, comes in the courtroom interactions and experiences presented in engaging prosecution, jury, and judges.
In Chapter 6 of 9, private defense attorney Julia Green finds inspiration arguing a 2005 appeal to Judge Sonia Sotomayor at U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Sotomayor left this position in mid-2009 for the U.S. Supreme Court, while Green transitioned into her role as a Federal Public Defender.
In Chapter 5 of 9, attorney Julia Green finds the human element more intense than anticipated in transitioning from corporate litigation law to public defense. She recounts courtroom and relationship gravity defense law presents and how she acclimated to an environment where jail sentences and associated emotional family response shape daily life.
In Chapter 4 of 9, after several years practicing corporate law, attorney Julia Green is drawn to service-focused public interest law, namely fighting for individuals who have never had anyone fight for them before. The underdog appeal - going against the United States of America or the State of New York and its prosecutors - reinforces Green's transition into practicing public defense law.
In Chapter 3 of 9, a post-law school Kramer Levin corporate litigation attorney role working long hours fails to inspire purpose or meaning for lawyer Julia Green. Working on behalf of a corporate entity battling another corporate entity, she looking beyond litigation to more individual-focused and less document-focused law careers. This transition into a role with a greater human interest element, she arrives at a family law vs. criminal law crossroads, ultimately choosing criminal law.
In Chapter 2 of 9, Julia Green reflects on her Georgetown Law School experience. While there, Gatto remembers sharing an uncertainty toward career and purpose with her classmates and peers. Hiring companies present lucrative opportunities and students, unfamiliar about goals with career planning, accepting them not seeing alternative opportunities, especially given student loan obligations. Green highlights the benefit attending law school immediately upon college graduation, namely having a law degree by age 25. She also highlights the recruiting dichotomy between corporate law and public interest law and the necessary initiative required to push beyond the corporate recruiting marketing and promotion and into exploring public interest opportunities.
In Chapter 1 of 9, attorney Julia Green defines her role as a federal public defender in New York City. Green is a criminal defense lawyer who represents indigent defendants who cannot afford counsel.
Since 2009, Capture Your Flag has interviewed a cohort of rising leaders who share lessons from their journeys to help others plan, pursue and achieve life and career aspirations. The resulting 3000+ Near Peer Video Library can be licensed for commercial use.
