Osler's Razor

On Wednesdays (with a few weeks off for the holidays) I have been profiling my remarkable classmates from the Yale Law School class of 1990.

The Class of '90 was full of sharp intellects, and none were sharper than Martin Sabelli. Among other things, he was one of the few people who seemed to really get what I was saying in my law journal note-- a fact I deeply appreciated at the time.  I remember, even back then, thinking that it would be really important that remarkable minds like Martin's work to the good in the greater world.

And--good news!-- that has certainly been true of Martin. I have followed his career from afar with great admiration.

Martin graduated from Harvard college in 1985, then took two years off. While my "two years off" at the same time involved delivering flowers and subpoenas in Detroit, Martin was off getting a degree at the London School of Economics.

After law school, he clerked for a federal trial judge, Robert Peckham in the Northern District of California. After that, he quickly gravitated to criminal defense work-- a place of great need in our country-- and became a national leader in that field while remaining in the Bay Area. Over the past three decades, he has served as a federal defender, a partner at a large firm, and as a solo practitioner, all while basically doing the same kind of work.  He currently serves as the First Vice President of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, which is the most significant organization in the U.S. for members the defense bar. He has trained other lawyers throughout the US and around the world in the right way to approach cases where life and liberty are at stake.

Though I haven't seen him since YLS, every now and then I hear remarkable fragments of what he is doing from others. You know that someone is doing good in the world when there is always an admirable story about him that comes up between mutual friends, and there is with Martin. I hope to hear more as time rolls on-- and maybe run into the man himself.