Ten questions for Maria Durant: defense attorneys 101
Maria Durant is a partner at Dwyer & Collora LLP in Boston. She received both her B.A. and her J.D. from Suffolk University. In 1998, she served as a special assistant district attorney in Suffolk County, Mass. She currently serves as a hearing committee member of the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers and is a member of the Boston Bar Association’s criminal law steering committee.
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1. What are some of the special challenges of defending a politician that wouldn’t come up defending a private citizen?
“The special challenges include specialized laws that don’t apply to ordinary citizens. Here in Massachusetts, there are conflict of interest laws that regulate a whole range of behaviors including whether or not they can receive gratuities in return for official decisions. There are strict guidelines for elected officials. You can’t have the appearance of impropriety. You must have trust from your constituents.”
2. Tell me about your most challenging case.
“They are all challenging. You are dealing with clients at difficult times in their lives.”
3. How do you separate potential ideological/political conflicts in defending a client?
“That never enters into the calculus at all. I don’t bring in my own ideological and political views. A case requires me to look at the law and how [the politicians] conduct behavior and advise my clients to the law as its been interpreted. I have represented Republicans, Democrats and Independents.”
4. Tell me about defending Abramoff.
“The victories are those that are not public. Those that are public I am not going to comment on.”
5. How can such high-profile cases receive fair trials?
“I think it’s an incredible challenge on the attorneys that represent them. It’s important that the case is not tried in the press as so often happens these days. The attorney does his or her best job by staying focused on the case at hand and litigating in the courtroom, not the press.”
6. How should defendants balance legal troubles with their job responsibilities? When should a politician step down?
“I can’t answer it in a vacuum. Public and personal factors that would lead me advise one way or another. Every case is different.”
7. Why do you think we are seeing more corruption cases on both sides? Is there really an increase in corruption, or are politicians being held more accountable?
“There are not more corruption cases coming up now. In my experience, there has always been a fairly steady run of corruption cases…. In Massachusetts, I handle matters that raise questions about conduct and behavior of public officials. Those don’t receive much press on the national level, which is a good thing from my clients’ standpoint, but I don’t see it as major shift.”
8. How is defending a politician now different from 10 years ago?
“Prosecutors today are more creative in their use of federal statues to prosecute. The same conduct 10 years ago may not have been prosecuted using federal statutes. In terms of the challenges of representing public officials, they’re really much the same. You need to make sure you don’t try your case in the press. Stay focused on the client. There are issues that are hot button issues today; ten years ago, there were different issues, but I don’t see a tremendous difference from the standpoint of a defense attorney. Certainly there are different tools being used by prosecutors about the country. Those tools open up a Pandora’s box in terms of potential punishment.”
9. How can politicians stay out of trouble?
“First and foremost, they can stay out of trouble by knowing the rules and guidelines that govern their conduct. I run into politicians that engage in conduct that has been commonly accepted for many years. They don’t realize that just because it’s accepted doesn’t mean it doesn’t violate the unique laws that pertain to them….”
10. Who would you have loved to defend?
“I have thoroughly enjoyed defending everyone I have defended. All have come to me with unique situations in difficult and troubling times. I have been very fortunate to represent individuals that genuinely care about their constituents.”