Clarence Darrow, America’s original celebrity lawyer, came out of retirement in 1931 to take up the defense of Grace Fortescue, a racist Honolulu socialite and murderer. In this week’s episode of the Lawyer Forward podcast, Mike Whelan uses the bizarre and incredible story of the Fortescue murder trial as a launchpad to explore racism, power, and moral flexibility in lawyering. What are the implications of the “emotional labor” required of lawyers in order to advocate for clients or causes with which they disagree? How far can values be bent before they break?
Make sure you take advantage of the show’s Q&A feature. You can ask Mike questions about the latest episode and he’ll answer at the end of the next episode. Just submit your question in the form at the bottom of this post.