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THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE November 28, 1986 Page 15 Findlina for the dslsnse Jewish lawyer an advocate for the underdog by Richard Bono TSI staff writer In the larger, private law firms that occupy the downtown office high rises of major Southern cit ies, a good number of Jewish men and women fill the roster of attorneys pursuing the lucrative fields of corporate or tax law or divorce proceedings. But a far smaller number of Jewish attor neys in the South devote their time to defending the South’s large contingent of poor people. Drew Findling opted for the latter track. As an assistant pub lic defender for the Fulton County Public Defenders Office, the 26- year-old Findling defends his court-appointed clients of crimes ranging from shoplifting to mur der. But he does not consider himself special for doing this. Rather, he says his work as a public defender is exemplary of the concern Jews typically show for the underdog. "We're pretty much a giving people," he said. "I don't feel that I’m a rarity being a public de fender. It’s characteristic of our giving ways. Fair treatment for people despite their economic status has always been a concern of Jewish people.” Findling has been a public defender since the spring of last year when he was graduated from Emory University School of Law. The job serves not only to satisfy a desire Findling has to help poor people, but, he says, “I wanted the trial experience. 1 enjoy being in the courtroom," he said. “It’s a combination of the two.” Findling has gained some prominence of late for represent ing a 45-year-old woman accused of murdering her 42-year-old boyfriend. The case is thought to be the first where years of verbal abuse was successfully equated with physical abuse. “We put up a battered woman defense where the person is beaten up over a period of years," Drew Findling Findling said. “But, in our case, the woman had never been beaten before. She had just been ver bally abused.” On June 7, the woman was arguing with her boyfriend on a street in their southeast Atlanta neighborhood. He hit her, appar ently the first time in their stormy 11-year relationship he had ever raised his hand against her, des pite consistent verbal threats that he would. "When he hit her, it sort of culminated all the verbal threats he had made for 11 years,” Fin dling said. “All the threats had become reality. She had been carrying a knife. It was a bad neighborhood. The knife fell to the ground w hen he hit her. When he came at her again, she put the knife in his heart. The jury held she was completely not guilty." Findling’s successful defense does not set a legal precedent, but rather signals defense attor neys that the battered woman defense can successfully be app FOR THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS Ron Weintraub Hennessy Cadillac Jaguar 3040 Piedmont Rd., N.E. Atlanta, GA 30305 lied in some cases where verbal, not physical abuse, is the prim ary motive for a crime allegedly occurring from self-defense. Findling is pleased with the outcome and is basking in the light of some new-found public awareness. There are only two investiga tors for 20 lawyers in the Fulton County Public Defenders Office, according to Findling. “Some times I just go out on my own to investigate,” he said. “It takes me to various parts of the commu nity, interviewing witnesses, going to the crime scene or talking with people who live in the neighbor hood.” That aspect of the job is uni que, according to Findling, who indicated that most lawyers do not venture far from their offices. “There is a lot of culture shock involved,” Findling says of con ducting your own investigations on the streets of Atlanta. “You learn a lot about life. You don’t take as much for granted. It’s an incredible experience.” Findling, who is originally from New York, admits to not being very active in Atlanta’s Jewish community. But he expects that to change somewhat when he weds Beth Kaplan of Atlanta next summer. They will be mar ried at Ahavath Achim Syna gogue, which Findling says they anticipate joining. Findling does not expect to be a public defender forever. From this level of legal representation, he said he’d like to move into private trial practice. “I just felt that at some junc ture of my career, I wanted to do something to help poor people,” he said. “I never joined the Peace Corps like some people do. And I was trying to find some way to be helpful over period of time. I’d recommend it to anyone.” Buckhead 3047 Peachtree Road 233-6759 Roswell Village Holcomb Bridge Road. Roswell 993-7003 Sandy Springs Plaza ^97 Roswell Road 255-6224 Perimeter Mall L'pper Level (New Section' 399-6607 For 40 years we have been a parr of the Atlanta tradition. 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