EP #82: Beyond the Courtroom: A Defense Attorney's Journey Through Law, Poetry, and Caregiving

What makes Michael Harris with Michael J. Harris, Attorney at Law, a good neighbor?  

Ever wondered what happens when you step into a courtroom alone? According to criminal defense attorney Michael J. Harris, simply "telling the truth" isn't enough. With 17 years of solo practice experience, Harris pulls back the curtain on the realities of legal defense during this candid conversation.

The cornerstone of Harris's practice is personal service - a refreshing departure from the delegation common in larger firms. "When I have a client, I know personally what's going on," he explains, highlighting why he handles virtually every aspect of each case himself. This approach ensures clients always know exactly who to talk to, creating clarity during what can be an overwhelming process.

Harris shatters the dangerous misconception that good intentions guarantee favorable outcomes in court. "Everyone wants to be found innocent," he notes, "but prosecutors, judges, and juries want evidence and facts." This reality check serves as a powerful reminder of what's at stake without proper representation. His diverse clientele - from construction workers to doctors and even mayors - underscores his pragmatic observation that "everyone has broken a law; not everyone's been caught."

Beyond his legal practice, Harris reveals his creative side through two podcasts: "What's in the Law," which demystifies legal concepts for everyday people, and "Smokin' Poetry Podcast," where he interviews various performing artists. Perhaps most touching is his reflection on caregiving experiences that have deepened his empathy toward clients' unique situations. His parting advice? "Talk to at least three lawyers before making a decision. See who listens to you, who actually has a plan." Connect with Michael J. Harris at MikeHarrisLaw.com or on social media to learn more about his personal approach to legal defense.

To learn more about Michael J. Harris, Attorney at Law go to: 

https://mikeharrislaw.com/

Michael J. Harris, Attorney at Law

719-635-2005

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Tony Hills.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of a greatcriminal and traffic defense
attorney?
One might be closer than youthink.
Today I have the pleasure ofintroducing our good neighbor,
michael Harris, with Michael JHarris, attorney at law.
Michael, how's it going?
Very good Harris.
Attorney at law, michael, how'sit going?

Speaker 3 (00:26):
Very good, thank you for having me, and how are you
doing?

Speaker 2 (00:30):
I'm doing fantastic.
We're excited to have you onthe show, so tell us about what
it is that you do.

Speaker 3 (00:36):
Well, as you mentioned, my primary area is
criminal defense and trafficdefense, and I also handle other
similar types of things.
For example, I handlerestraining orders, I handled
driver's license issues and Ihandle security clearance issues

(00:58):
, and then occasionallysomething else will come across
that I help someone else out.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
Okay, that's awesome.
How did you get into thisbusiness?

Speaker 3 (01:10):
Well, it's a bit of a story, but I have been doing my
own solo practice for about 17years now and it was a series of
events that got me into thesolo practice.
Before that I had been doingsome government jobs and I
really found that Doing the solopractice, I think, is for me,

(01:32):
and I think for a lot of people,the best way to go, for several
reasons, one being that when Ihave a client, I know personally
what's going on.
It's not something that Idelegate out and have five other
people doing various projects.

(01:53):
I think it's important that, asthe lawyer, the person who's
going to go to court and talk tothe judge, talk to the jury,
talk to the witnesses and allthat that I should be handling,
basically everything that needsto be handled that I can do for
that client.
That doesn't mean we don't needto hire outside help for

(02:14):
certain things, like if you needan expert witness or a doctor
to review something, for example.
But generally, as far as legalwork, that's my job and I find
it to be, I think, a lot easieron the client when they know
exactly who to talk to and,frankly, I know their name, I

(02:34):
know, you know what they do.
You know what led to the caseand I think that's a big
advantage.

Speaker 2 (02:41):
Okay, what are some myths or misconceptions in your
industry?

Speaker 3 (02:45):
Oh, there's many.
I would say if there was onemisconception that I would like
to tell people about, it's a lotof people have the idea that if
they just go to court, justtell the truth, just do what
they think is right, thateverything's going to work out

(03:07):
fine.
And unfortunately, a lot ofpeople feel like that's all they
have to do and it just does notwork out that way.
And there's a number of reasonswhy having someone like me can
be important.
If you are facing a criminalmatter or a serious traffic
matter, and one of the, I guess,ways I would explain that is

(03:42):
just walking into court andsaying I'm innocent is not going
to go anywhere if there'snothing else to say.
I mean, everyone wants to befound innocent, but it's not
always possible.
And when it is possible, how youpresent the case can be
extremely important.
How you present the case can beextremely important.
The prosecutor, judge, jurythey're not just going to trust
you because you say that you'reinnocent and you know the truth

(04:03):
in your heart.
People want to see evidence,they want to see facts.
So someone like me comes in andwe look for what is the
evidence?
What do the witnesses have tosay?
And then we try to present itin a way that the other side's
going to understand or the judgeand jury are going to
understand, and a lot of thatinvolves talking to the client

(04:25):
about what their situation isand kind of going through with
them okay, what's important andwhat is maybe extraneous as far
as what the other side isconcerned.
And a lot of people feel like,just because something's
important to them, that it'sgoing to be important to the
other side and if it's notproperly explained, the other

(04:49):
side might just completely missthe fact.

Speaker 2 (04:52):
Okay, who are your target customers and how do you
attract them?

Speaker 3 (04:56):
Well, I basically help all kinds of people.
Frankly, a lot of people whohire me are relatively low
income and, you know, doing thebest they can to kind of get by.
But I have also representedcustomers, you know, higher or
higher income kind of clients aswell.

(05:18):
I have construction workers,military soldiers and things
like that.
But I've also representeddoctors, lawyers and mayors.
So everyone gets in trouble atsome point.
The one thing I like to say iseveryone has done something to
break a law.

(05:38):
It's not everyone's been caughtand it's not always been
serious enough to actually getto court, but everyone's done
something.
Frankly, most people are goingto need someone like me at some
point in their life.

Speaker 2 (05:50):
Okay, outside of work , what do you do for fun?

Speaker 3 (05:53):
Oh, that's quite a few things Actually.
I have a couple of podcasts.
Oh, that's quite a few thingsActually.
I have a couple of podcasts.
One of my podcasts, which goesright with my law business, I
call what's in the Law Podcastand you can find that on YouTube
and Spotify and it's mostly megiving some short descriptions

(06:15):
of things that happen and I tryto present it in as far as what
really happens, kind of a lawfor real people kind of thing,
and not all the big giant wordsbut how do things act in reality
, which you might not find inthe books.
I've also interviewed a fewother people in the legal
profession to get theirperspective on that.

(06:36):
And then the second podcast Ihave, which is a completely
different kind of show, is aboutpoetry.
I am a poet and I have apodcast I call Smokin' Poetry
Podcast no G in smokin' and onthat one I interview local
performing artists, poets,musicians, comedians, got a

(06:58):
magician, got some painters andauthors and we talk not only
about their art, about theirlife, about their experiences.
I have literal war stories fromseveral veterans and that is
also on YouTube and Spotify andseveral of the other podcast
hosting sites.
So I encourage everyone tocheck that out.

Speaker 2 (07:22):
Okay, awesome, let's switch gears.
Can you describe a hardship orlife challenge you overcame, how
it made you stronger and whatcomes to mind?

Speaker 3 (07:32):
Well, there's quite a few things like that.
I will say I have part of mylife in fact, maybe even one of
the most major parts of my lifehas been being a caregiver for
someone who is very sick.
I'm dealing with some of my ownhealth issues and one thing

(07:54):
that that has really taught me,or enhanced at least, is empathy
and understanding that what isso-called normal to some people
might be completely off the wallto other people and trying to
be sympathetic and looking at,well, what is the cause of

(08:17):
certain behavior.
So I think that has reallyhelped me in that sense about
being able to understandpeople's difficulties.

Speaker 2 (08:28):
Okay, okay, michael, please tell us one thing that
you remember about Michael JHarris, attorney at law.

Speaker 3 (08:35):
That it's personal service.
I encourage anyone facing aserious legal matter to talk to
at least three lawyers beforeyou make a decision, not saying,
if I'm the first that you can'thire me, but talk to three, see
who you're comfortable with,see what the differences are,
see who listens to you, see whoactually has a plan and has more

(08:59):
questions than can you pay memy retainer and you'll see a big
difference in how differentlawyers are.

Speaker 2 (09:09):
Okay, how can I listen to learn more about
Michael J Harris?
Attorney at law.

Speaker 3 (09:13):
Well, for one.
You can go to MikeHarrisLawcom,which is on my website.
You can also find me onFacebook, just Michael J Harris,
attorney at law.
I'm on Instagram under MikeHarris Law, with another little
dash because someone took thename before me, so you can read

(09:34):
about me there.
You can certainly go intoGoogle and sometimes I wonder
what people are saying about meand all these things.
Just keep in mind I have acommon name and there are other
Michael Harris's out there, soif you can't look for my bald
head, ok awesome, Michael.

Speaker 2 (09:52):
Well, we wish you the best in your business.
We appreciate you being on ourshow today.

Speaker 3 (09:57):
Well, thank you so much for having me.
I appreciate the Good Neighborpodcast and what you're doing to
present to the communities,various local businesses and
what we have to offer.

Speaker 1 (10:11):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go toGNPColoradoSpringscom.
That's GNPColoradoSpringscom,or call 719-679-4720.