So when I was a public defender a friend of mine actually thought of this idea but I did it, which was to apply for a master’s program at George Washington University School of Forensic Science, which I did. I was in the program for a couple years and I took their DNA course and a course on forensic psychology, a course on firearms, this kind of stuff. With the students who would eventually be in the Department of Forensic Science somewhere.

I learned a lot from it, in particular about DNA, which is one of my areas of interest but probably most importantly what I got out of that were connections. Because the professors and the people at George Washington University I’m still in touch with them today. I hire them in cases, I consult with them about cases. These days almost any big case has forensic science in it. It could be DNA, it could be a firearms evidence, it could be digital forensics, computers, cellphones, all of this kind of stuff. It’s in every case more and more and I think the lawyer can never be an expert like someone who has that degree but it’s good for the lawyer to know enough to assess the case, figure out who to get, and have real conversations and really understand it. Rather than just sort of running through a list of questions with an expert because if you don’t understand it, you can’t react to surprised and you can’t adapt in the moment. And so, I think it’s a really big part of criminal defense.