Saturday, January 07, 2023

Clarence Darrow offers CLE in upcoming CBA presentation

For many years Clarence Darrow was comfortably ensconced as the second-most famous lawyer to come out of the State of Illinois. Then Barack Obama dislodged him.

But Darrow is still in there pitching, providing CLE for the CBA on Wednesday, February 2, from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m., at the Union League Club.

Well... not actually the real Darrow... but Paul Morella, an actor with a one-man show that features reenactments of some of Darrow's best-known courtroom moments laying, in the words of the event promoters, "the foundation for an examination of the ethical issues raised during the performance, including conflicts of interest, jury nullification, dishonesty, misrepresentation, fraud and more."

Sadly, the promotional materials don't address whether Morella will specifically address Darrow's guilt or innoncence in the California jury-tampering case that almost ended Darrow's career some 110 years ago. (There is some serious question about whether Darrow may have actually been guilty of those bribery charges. But that's the great thing about history: It is populated by flesh-and-blood people, just like people in the present day, people in possession of great attributes... with coexisting great flaws... and who may be, or should be, worthy of respect and admiration, those human defects notwithstanding.)

Tickets for this event are $100 each for CBA members (CBA Advantage Plan members have to pay full price for this event). The non-members price is $150. Registration is available via this link. Organizers say that attendees will qualify for 1.5 IL PR-MCLE credit.
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2 comments:

  1. Paul MorellaTuesday, January 10, 2023 2:34:00 PM

    Hi Jack,
    Your blog post was passed along to me so I thought I'd address your question about Darrow's bribery and jury tampering case. Yes, the case is covered in the show, as is his summation, although his guilt or innocence is left up to the audience as jurors. Suffice to say, Geoffrey Cowen's "The People v. Clarence Darrow" is one of the sources used for this segment of the play, and I think it's safe to say that Darrow's "defense" was a classic case of "Judge me by what I've done, not by what I did." It's an integral part of the show, and it lays the groundwork for the landmark cases to come. F. Scott Fitzgerald may have written "there are no second acts in American lives," but Darrow certainly proved otherwise. Hope to see you there.

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  2. Jack LeyhaneTuesday, January 10, 2023 2:49:00 PM

    Thank you, Mr. Morella, for your response.

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