From: Provider Has Never Disappeared To: With My Clients: Fill & Download for Free

As a kiwi who lives in poland (polish wife) I feel it’s because they have a more recent memory of what it is like to not have a country. I’m not just referring to WWII and post war communism, but the hundreds of years before that. Poland has had a pretty shit time - stuck between Germany and Russia.People here are getting back on their feet - business is booming and construction is happening all over the place, and people are dragging themselves up out of hardship and making a brighter future. But this doesn’t mean they don’t want to help.In fact in my wife’s grandmother’s town they took in about a dozen ‘refugee’ families. The whole town got together to support them - from finding jobs for the fathers, enrolling the kids in school and picking them up, to sorting out language lessons - the whole town got together to make them welcome.After about 3 months of this, they disappeared in the middle of the night - turns out Germany has better benefits.To me, if you’re a refugee, and a neighbor provides you a home, food, jobs, education and healthcare for you and your children, then all your needs are met.Part of the problem is many aren’t refugees, but migrants looking to take advantage of Europe’s welfare system. Add to this the issue of Islam - unlike the western media portray it, it has never been the religion of peace, and when they’re not on the offensive against the west, they’re murdering each other.My friend owns a B&B in Switzerland, quite a fancy one, and they often get middle eastern clients, and they have to be careful with the booking, because if the wrong people come into contact with each other, it can get real unpleasant.Despite the fact I’ve spent 15yrs living and working with many muslims from pretty much every muslim country in the world, I’m going to suggest that Islam is incompatible with the west. I get on great with the average man, whether a devout muslim or not, and many are my friends, but the ideology itself is not compatible, simply because they ultimately see Sharia as the way a society should be run, and they openly admit that one day, the western world will eventually submit to Sharia, either voluntarily or by force - these aren’t my words, but words of the muslim friends I have.People in Poland and other Eastern European countries are cautious, and given their brutal, bloody histories, who can blame them. I’ve been to some of the places where the Poles fought the muslim/ottoman/turks, and even listened to the trumpet being played in the tower in Krakow, a trumpet piece that gets cut short in remembrance of the ottoman arrow that pierced the trumpeter who was trying to warn the city of the invasion at their door.

I’m more than a little miffed that Andrew Weill’s outstanding answer on this is collapsed by downvotes.I’ve answered this on half a dozen occasions already, but I’ll go ahead and add yet another one.Why should I feel guilty about ethically representing a client?Is it because you believe the role of a criminal defense lawyer is to get guilty people “off” on some “technicality,” in your opinion? Is it because you believe that attorneys will lie and cheat and seize every opportunity to “win” a case, or that “winning” a case is more important to attorneys than justice? Is it because you believe a person you thought was guilty was found not guilty somewhere along the line?First, a person accused of a crime is innocent until a finder of fact, either a jury or a judge in a bench trial, finds beyond a reasonable doubt that the person has committed conduct that is culpable in the eyes of the law. Not before, not until. So, I don’t know that a client is guilty unless and until that finder of fact has made that determination. The finding of guilt is not my job.Second, I have a sworn ethical duty to zealously represent a client, and persons accused of criminal acts are entitled to due process of the law, and to legal counsel. That ethical duty and those rights do not disappear if I think that the client is guilty. See point 1 for further clarification.Edit 8/20: apparently, people don’t seem to get the concept of ethical obligations.This is directly from the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Every state has adopted some version of this.From the Preamble:[1] A lawyer, as a member of the legal profession, is a representative of clients, an officer of the legal system and a public citizen having special responsibility for the quality of justice.[2] As a representative of clients, a lawyer performs various functions. As advisor, a lawyer provides a client with an informed understanding of the client's legal rights and obligations and explains their practical implications. As advocate, a lawyer zealously asserts the client's position under the rules of the adversary system. As negotiator, a lawyer seeks a result advantageous to the client but consistent with requirements of honest dealings with others. As an evaluator, a lawyer acts by examining a client's legal affairs and reporting about them to the client or to others.. . .[8] A lawyer's responsibilities as a representative of clients, an officer of the legal system and a public citizen are usually harmonious. Thus, when an opposing party is well represented, a lawyer can be a zealous advocate on behalf of a client and at the same time assume that justice is being done. So also, a lawyer can be sure that preserving client confidences ordinarily serves the public interest because people are more likely to seek legal advice, and thereby heed their legal obligations, when they know their communications will be private.We cannot do our jobs effectively if clients don’t tell us things. That means the good, the bad, the ugly, and the downright horrifying.That means we have to be able to hear those things, and hold them in confidence. It doesn’t matter how we feel about it.But what if…?No.Does. Not. Matter.As the preamble says, if everyone does their job, then the attorney can be a zealous advocate for the client and still see justice done.The purpose of a criminal defense attorney is to ensure that an accused person has received the full due process of the law and that the law enforcement and the prosecutor didn’t take any shortcuts or violate that due process in their quest to zealously do their jobs. A defense attorney’s job is to make sure that the accused’s rights were not violated, that she receives a fair trial, that the evidence presented was gathered and admitted in a manner that does not unduly prejudice her, and that the state actually meets their burden of proof.A criminal defense attorney makes sure that justice is done.You know who that protects? You.Yes, it does.An adversarial system with safeguards around due process and good defense attorneys who make sure that those steps are followed ensures that the government continues to scrupulously follow the rules when they engage with the public — including you. It makes sure that the police don’t take shortcuts and respect your privacy. It makes sure that everyone gets a fair trial and maintains respect for the institution as a fair arbiter of justice. It makes sure that prosecutors don’t get lazy and use unfairly prejudicial tactics to obtain convictions.It is not a defense attorney’s job to defend the person’s conduct. It is not a defense attorney’s job to make excuses. It is not a defense attorney’s job to have the client avoid punishment for wrongs.It is the job of a defense attorney to ensure that every person receives the full extent of their due process. It is the job of a defense attorney to put the State to its burden of proof. Nothing more, nothing less.Why would I feel guilty for making sure that the law was upheld and due process was served? Why would I feel guilty about making sure that every person’s rights were observed and that every person receives a fair trial, on the merits, and that if they are found guilty, it is beyond a reasonable doubt? Why would I possibly feel guilty for making sure that our institutions are above reproach?I would never feel guilty for doing my job, to the best of my ability, consistent with my ethical obligations, as I have taken an oath to do.Nonstandard Addendum:I normally welcome rational debate on the merits.I’m out of patience for the hypo-changers and the “but what ifs” and the “and that’s why lawyers are terrible people” on this one.Comments off.

Update: Removing Anonymity.Yes. I have. IMMENSELY.tl;dr: By answering questions on Quora, I’ve built a successful consulting business.For the past 15 years I was associated with the technology field. Margins were diminishing, clients were demanding more, pay was not good, there was pressure to sell more and more, I was depressed, every morning I struggled to face the day, odd hours at work, despite climbing up the management ladder - the firefighting did not stop, money was low, eating out was something that did not happen to me frequently and then stopped all together. I had reached my proverbial breaking point.I was broke.Like seriously broke. Financially and Mentally. More mental than financial.Did not have a clue as to what lay ahead….. surely life could not be this depressing!One fine day, I just stopped working. I quit. Cold Turkey!I just did not go to the office.I did not meet people.I turned most methods of communication off.I switched my phone off.I contemplated what I wanted to do. It took 10-15 days, and I knew what I wanted to pursue. Let's call this field of pursuit "X". (Update: Where X = Payments and payment systems.)So now I know what I wanted to do, how the heck was I going to do it? I had extremely shallow knowledge or association within this field.How the heck will I make a living? Well I had one year's worth of saving (if I tightened the belt), so best to put it to good use - that is, studying.I studied religiously from the break of dawn to dusk and then some!Played with the kids and then tried to get in 3-4 hours more late at night. It was like revisiting the university days.Days were long and hard.But I absorbed everything there was to learn about this industry. Spoke to hundreds of people, watched thousands of videos, listened to podcasts, exchanged over 5,000+ emails with people/businesses to learn more, and read about 30-40 core books along with - I think - something like 500+ white-papers and reports.The Quora Factor!So how did Quora come into play? Well, needless to say, I wanted answers to my questions (which I posted on Quora.) Result? No one answered them. This was like super disappointing.Being naive, I could not see the signals. People in this field did not want to share answers. They did not want to share their resources. They would just not share their knowledge. Simply put, a lot of the seasoned professionals were selfish. To NKOBs like myself, this was very disturbing.The Internet was all about sharing. Whatever happened to that?So I made a pact with myself:Whatever I learned - I would share.Whenever I learned an answer to my own question - I would answer.If someone asked a question to which I knew an answer, I would reply here.I took time out for answering questions, just like the way I would like to have them answer for me.1 answer, 2, answers, 3 answers, ...50 answers, ...100 answers ...500 answers, ...1,000 answers, ...1,500 answers, ... still going....Then a strange thing started to happen. I started getting more views on my LinkedIn profile. I started getting traffic to my blog, my personal website. I started getting more emails in my inbox asking "Hey, do you have a minute to talk?", I started getting more Skype requests for small chats related to this field, I started getting more inbox emails on Quora, and I started getting followers.I replied and addressed each and every person who contacted me.I made my first sale from Quora, by simply talking to someone on the phone, who agreed to pay me for my time. Since then, I have taken projects big and small. As low as US$50 to as high as US$15,000 for a week's assignment.I firmly believe in this:Today, Quora is my...ResumeBillboardReferenceScore CardCredentialsLead GeneratorOfficeI'm all over Google. I wasn't there like this before. The SERP results of Quora have driven a lot of traffic my way.Traffic = Sales.I cannot put it more simply.Or in the case of Quora:Answering Questions = Profile Lookup / Inbox Emails.My life has changed. I could write paragraphs and paragraphs about it, but you would perhaps still not understand the gravity of the change (for the better.) My kids are happy. My marriage is happy. I love waking up every morning. I welcome each and every email I receive and answer it with the love and affection I would like someone to give my email. I answer them all. I have money to spend. I've not forgotten the difficult times of the past. It has made me more humble and frugal.Everyone wants to connect. I connect back and hug them and say thank you!Quora has been nothing short of a miracle for me. I get enough queries via Quora that I have to decline clients, referring them to other specialists. How cool is that?I've had job offers, consulting offers, offers to move, offers to head small companies, offers to speak, offers to write a book, offers to do lectures, offer to make instructional videos, offers to partner-up, offers to be a board member, offers to be on the advisory board, offers to take equity. I am thankful to all such offers.To leave you with a small sense of achievement via Quora, let me cite an example. There is this expensive expo/trade-show that happens every year, which I could not afford to attend (US$3,000) for the show-ticket alone. Every year for the past four years I was writing to them asking for a complimentary pass, and for the past four years, they've been politely declining my request.This year was no different. I got declined. Three days before the show, I get a call from the CEO of the Event Organizer. He apologized for the oversight by his staff. Not only did he give me the complimentary ticket, but I was offered a free hotel stay as well. Sadly, I could not make it because the time frame was too short.Now, such invitations to come and speak here, or come and speak there, or moderate this forum here, or come as a phone-in guest there, etc. are all over the place. I try to appease as many as I can.Today, I speak at events, get invited… (here are some pictures)…-----Update (2014): As a result of being on Quora, I was picked up by Megan Burton CEO of CoinX as VP of Operations. So now I am a full-time employee there. How cool is that?I'm extremely thankful for having Quora in my life.Present Day....Update # 2: As of December 2017, I went solo and have not looked back. I decided to use all the good karma of answering questions here on Quora, my experience with interacting with others, daily blogging, answering questions on Quora and networking like crazy, and the effort I put in social media ---- to go back to my roots of consulting. Little did I know it would really take off.I've got my own product (i.e. a service line),a steady stream of clients with whom I consult,I get to travel more (on paid assignments) andGet free invites to seminars to speak/moderate.On the board as advisor to many companiesWork with multiple Venture Capital companies as well as Investors and Investment banks for purposes of fund raising in the fintech spaceSo, all in all, life is not bad. You have to work hard, there is no denying that. But those who can break through the threshold, will live to see it bear fruit.Almost 95% of my client queries comes from Quora, i.e. the would-be-client would have read something of mine on Quora and then calls me up.It is perhaps one of my best lead generators.Update # 3: As of the summer of 2019, I moved to the beautiful city of Istanbul. Never in my life thought I’d be here and making the kind of money I am making now. Still travel a lot, honing the art of sales & marketing for the banking & payments space. Totally dominate it now. Being complacent is my fear, I am always trying to learn and experiment. Be open to new ideas. I have learned to say No! (a much, much-needed trait). Along with this, Quora has taught me so much and if it was not of this platform, I would not be here. Just as Facebook and Google, for example, have spawned an industry, so has Quora for me. It is my livelihood and I love it. Even if Quora disappears tomorrow, I’ve invested heavily in platforms outside Quora to reduce the risk of everything being in one basket.