Every once in a while, a criminal defense blawger will post a metacognitive description of their work by analogizing themselves to something other than a criminal defense lawyer.  Today’s flavor is Remy Orozco at Hostis Civitas, and the ice cream parlor across the street is run by Mark Bennett at Defending People.  Remy posts about how to hire a gunslinger, and Bennett responds that Paladin doesn’t charge by the bullet.

We love the gunfighter analogy.  It suits what we do in so many ways.  Plus, it’s incredibly romantic and manly, which is what we wish we were if we hadn’t become lawyers.  It’s not a perfect analogy, but no analogy is ever perfect.  If we tried to use the gladiator analogy, some twerp would argue that we were suits when we fight, though Oscar Wilde would likely riposte that we’re intellectually naked.

As much fun as it might be to join in the sparring, that’s not the purpose of this post.  Rather, my use of these posts is to make an entirely different point:  We’ve been here before, yet when a new reader spies a new post, it’s new to her.  I can’t remember when Bennett first raised his thoughts on the subject of charging for trial insurance in his fee structure in order to avoid the problem of a client feeling compelled to plead guilty because he can’t afford the cost of a trial, but I remember writing about it at the time.  It was a very interesting concept, and a very thoughtful approach.  I didn’t agree with it, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong.

One of my readers sent me an email with a link to Bennett’s post.  I then read Remy’s post.  And I smiled to myself.  These were horses that I’ve beaten to death so many times already.  Yet I also know that someone will happen upon Simple Justice and never see these posts, never know that I’ve discussed what to look for in a criminal defense lawyer, how fees are structured and what’s right and wrong about varying fee structures.  It happens constantly that a reader will read a post and assume that it reflects the entirety of thought on a broad subject, unaware that there are a multitude of other posts on the subject that address the many nuanced aspects of the issue.

What to do?  It pains me to think that my thoughts are so misinterpreted because the reader hasn’t read every single thing I’ve ever written.  It would likely pain them to do so.  There are times I’ve reminded readers to take a look elsewhere and see that there is more to a topic than just the individual post that brought them here, but I certainly can’t demand that anyone be required to research my every post for others on the same or similar topic.

One alternative is to pull out my best posts, or perhaps my posts on the most basic issues, and repeat them from time to time.  If my purpose in writing was to promote myself, it would likely be in my best interest to do so.  I would look far better if I were to stick with the things that potential clients would be interested in, and fashion my blawg in a way that would highlight what a great guy I am, rather than prattle on about whatever strikes my fancy on a daily basis.  After all, my posts about the need for integrity in the criminal defense bar are certainly more likely to capture the attention of potential clients than my posts about why twitter isn’t the intellectual endgame of the internet.

But I can’t bring myself to do it.  It would be boring to me and would undermine the very reason for Simple Justice to exist.  So I offer no post today about whether criminal defense lawyers are gunslingers, or whether Paladin charges for 6 bullets in his retainer even if only one is needed.  I’ve already had my say on the subject, and am not inclined to repeat myself.

But instead, I will analogize myself to a nun, My faith in the law, for better or worse, was established long ago, and my choice to write whatever strikes my fancy each morning is now a matter of habit.  Yeah, it’s a horrible analogy, but at least I can take comfort in the fact that Simple Justice remains chaste. 

And if you want to know what I think about the subject of Remy’s and Bennett’s posts, they’re in here somewhere to be found by anyone who cares enough to look.  FYI, I like the Paladin analogy too, but it’s mostly for his business card.