Sunday, April 02, 2006

A 21st Century Hero

"I'm not a capitalist."

From todays's UK Observer:

'I was born without a desire for material things,' says Tony Serra, California lawyer, 'I am a child of the Sixties and that ideology - anti-materialism, brotherhood, non-racism - these are the things I still believe in.'

In a country where lawyers are among society's top earners, he has no credit cards, savings or bank account and owns no property. All his clothes are from charity shops or the Salvation Army. His net worth is whatever he happens to have in his pockets.

Serra, 72, isn't like most lawyers, yet in a 40-year career he has built an unrivalled reputation for winning cases others dismiss as unwinnable.

In the words of one admirer, Serra 'uses his voice like a musical instrument'. He has juries hanging on his every word. His animated closing arguments often last several hours and regularly include poetry and even song.

Occasionally Serra accepts payment for his services and uses the money to pay staff and bills, but for the most part he works for free. He's just been sentenced for tax evasion - to which he pleaded guilty (though I would have thought 'earnings-evasion' was more appropriate).

Many of California's leading lawyers attended court to testify that Serra had been their chief inspiration in taking up law.

Here's a description of Serra.

Here's a picture of him (and an interesting case).

Tony Serra won the Trial Lawyer of the Year award in 2003 for his successful litigation of Judi Bari against the FBI.
Here's the Judi Bari story.
And Tony Serra's closing arguments in the case.

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