Sunday seems like the perfect day to talk about faith.

Faith in a human being’s ability to change. Let’s talk about THAT kind of faith.

A client of mine was sentenced on Friday. In my business, no news usually equals bad news. On sentencing day, attorneys share good news.

So when Saturday rolled around and I still had not heard anything from either the client or the attorney, I figured the judge disagreed with my assessment. It happens. It happens to the “best” clients and when I have done some of my best work. It happens when you least expect it (and sometimes it doesn’t happen when you think it will). And, it even happens when probation agrees with my recommendations, which was the case for this client.

Not knowing was bothering me, so I looked up the result. The court did agree with us! Client received a stayed sentence and a dispositional departure to probation (as opposed to the sentence of prison recommended by the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines).

It was well deserved, so I was happy for him. I was happy for his kids and his wife and his dad. They love him and need him home.

But do you want to know the best part? This client was initially told by his defense attorney that he was going to prison for years. He was told there was nothing he could do except do the time. No hope. No encouragement. Do not pass “go,” head straight to prison.

What the client did was fire that attorney. He found another attorney who was not willing to give up quite so easily. This attorney was realistic with him. The odds were definitely against this client, he knew that. At the same time, the client wanted to know his attorney was on his side and had done absolutely everything he could to avoid that life-altering prison sentence. This client wanted an attorney willing to do more than just have him plead guilty to the initial offer.

This has happened before. I have never worked on a case for the original attorney, but I had worked on cases for his new one. I was contacted by his new and improved attorney and the rest is history!

Well, yes and no. To be clear, the hero of this story is the client. This guy kept getting more and more bad news. A lesser person would have returned to their destructive habit of choice. Not this guy. He did the right things. Although he was disheartened and scared, he stayed sober. He went to AA meetings. He worked hard and took care of his family. He became a person who truly did not belong in prison and made it easy for me (and the probation officer) to recommend he continue doing exactly what he was doing….in the community.

This client did all this without any guarantee that it would work out. If anything, he had much evidence to the contrary. Regardless of the outcome, these were the things he wanted to do. These were the things that would create a better life. His family deserved this. If he ended up having to leave his family for years, he wanted his loved ones to have positive memories of him. Yes, it would still break their hearts if he went to prison, but at least he showed them what he was capable of doing and becoming. Though not ideal, he could walk into prison proud of himself.

He had faith. Faith in himself and faith in others to do the right thing. He took the serenity prayer to heart.

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

This client accepted his past (the thing he could not change), but had the courage to change the things he could (his behavior) and the judge had the wisdom (aided by quality info) to know the difference.

In my experience, real faith does not go unnoticed. I am not talking about flashy displays of pretend faith. I am talking about the genuine faith shown through one’s daily actions when no one is looking.

Clients can tell when their attorneys or other professionals do not have faith in them. A judge can tell who has real faith and who does not. If the client or the defense attorney cannot believe, why would the judge or prosecutor?

Before I get too preachy, here is the takeaway for potential clients– decide who you want to become and start doing the work. Just do it because it is the right thing to do. You never really know what will happen. If the “worst” thing to happen is that you enter prison a better person for trying, at least you still get to be a better person!

And, defense attorneys– please don’t give up so easy on your clients. Have a little faith.