Teaching Tanzanian Prosecutors Helps my Minnesota Criminal Defense Clients
Successful trial lawyers do far more than simply graduate from law school and then go to court and hope it goes well. It just isn’t enough. The good ones continue to study, continue to train and continue to take courses to be more effective. This is particularly critical for criminal defense attorneys. I have been practicing for decades, am a Board Certified Criminal Law Specialist and I am still stretching myself, still learning, still trying to be a more effective advocate for my Minnesota clients. While trying cases is great, one of the best ways for me to hone my skills is to teach trial advocacy, to make other lawyers better, and maybe in my own small way, make a difference.
“As a Board Certified Criminal Law Specialist, its still critical that a constantly improve.”
Right now, besides representing my clients, I am focusing on teaching Tanzanian Prosecutors who handle wildlife tracking cases to protect elephants and rhinos. While some of these lawyers are in the capital, Dar es Salaam, others are spread across the country. I was teaching in Nairobi, Kenya in 2020 doing the same thing and expect to being going back to East Africa later in the year to further my work. Because of COVID, this is currently happening online.
Tanzania is one of the countries wildlife traffickers use to strip the African Continent of their resources and protected animals including elephants. Between 2009 and 2015 alone, authorities seized more than 23 tons of ivory from traffickers at the seaports in Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar, the two major ports in Tanzania. These are two of the primary exit points to get the tusks out of the country. These numbers don’t include the tons of ivory that slipped through and ended up primarily in China and elsewhere.
As part of an effective effort to stop wildlife trafficking, it is critical to understand how the traffickers themselves work. In order for an effective trafficking operation, traffickers need somebody to kill the animals but they also need people to move ivory, horns, skins, etc. to the exit points. From there, the traffickers frequently need government officials to sneak the products through customs and out of the country, frequently using bribery as a motivating factor. This is why the seaports are frequently so critical. Unfortunately, the instability that this causes in East Africa is extraordinary, not just at the sites of the slaughter but also the corruption that it causes at the government level. Further, It also helps to fund international criminal organizations as well as terrorist groups which further exacerbate the problems. These are also some of the reasons that I am working with the Tanzanians.
“It may be hard to believe but what I do for East African prosecutors makes me a better trial lawyer in St. Paul.”
You may wonder how teaching prosecutors across the world would make me a better criminal defense lawyer here in Minnesota. Actually, it is simple. Tanzania is a common wealth country which means their system is similar to that of the U.S. What makes a good prosecutor and defense attorney there is the same as in the U.S. As a result, I use my experience working here and abroad to make them better at what they do. In turn, I learn and improve from the interaction, from the effort, watching them succeed, and sharpen those areas where they need help. By the time it is over, I walk away much much better and so do my clients. My openings and closing arguments are better. My direct and cross examination skills are tighter. My objections are faster, more thoughtful. Simply put, I’m a better lawyer. It may be hard to believe but what I do for East African prosecutors makes me a better trial lawyer in St. Paul.
In the end, I will be working with a team of Tanzanian prosecutors who are honestly extraordinary and I want to see them succeed. At the same time, they teach me as much as I might teach them, maybe more. It also provides me a unique skill few in the lawyers in the United States ever come close to learning. Regardless, the better we all are, the more effective the system and then more likely that people in the U.S. and Tanzania are willing to buy in. It is a win for everybody including me and even for my clients right here in Minnesota.