Vicken Hagopian has been a criminal lawyer for 21 and a1/2 years. His trial win to loss ratio is six to three. He specializes in cases involving drug trafficking, sales, and personal use cases along with identity theft and financial crimes. He attended California State University Los Angeles for four years; completing and obtaining his bachelors degree in business administration; minoring in pre-law and finance. Throughout his four years at CAL STATE LA, he maintained a 3.2 Grade Point Average, which was not sufficient in, and of itself to have, him accepted at any of the ABA accredited law schools. After receiving rejection letters from every law school that he applied to, a friend of his advised him of State Accredited law schools, a law school system founded by former California Court of Appeal Chief Justice Bernard Jefferson targeting minorities who have low GPA’s and an inability to attend law school on a full time basis. The requirements of admission being very few, Mr. Hagopian was able to enroll at the University Of Los Angeles School Of Law. In fact, at the time of his attendance, the dean of the school was Justice Bernard Jefferson himself. Due to the rigid prerequisites required by ABA law school, Mr. Hagopian was almost unable to practice law, which in turn would have been a sad loss for people who need an advocate for their rights and freedom. A man named Bernard Jefferson came up with the idea of state accredited law schools, which means that you can only practice law in the state where you went to school. Therefore, he attended University of West Law School for an additional three years, and continuing on to be the man he is today.
Vicken Hagopian’s typical day is very full and eventful. He handles about 5-12 cases daily, hopefully they are all in the same court, which is a pipe dream. He has his own practice called The Law Offices of Vicken Hagopian he has seven employees who do everything from research, document writing, sometimes stand in at court for him, to driving him around at times. Now the first half of his day he usually tries to deal with the DA’s, Judges, and clients. Litigation issues prelim hearings and settling cases trying to get his clients released with the smallest amount of incarceration as possible. During the second half of his day, he has meetings with new clients, existing clients going over discoveries. He also takes this part of his day for planning defenses and interviewing witnesses. He said that only about 5-7 cases go to trial a year, he has never had more than seven.
Moral and ethical dilemmas that he has had to deal with are Agreeing on a certain fee with your client expecting that only a certain amount of work is going to be necessary then the client decides that going to trial is in their best interests but they do not have the money. What do you do? You do not have a choice in criminal cases you cannot be dismissed because of money. Of course, you are not just going to abandon them, and what going to trial means is this is the only case you are working on. Trial cases are about $850-1200 a day, your existing client cannot pay for it, and you cannot go make money fighting other cases. Then you start building anger towards your client who you are supposed to be fighting for, you cannot stop giving your client to the best of your ability. Ethically and morally setting aside your anger is the only thing that you can do. Another problem arises when loved ones hire an attorney for them, then they expect just because of that. A lawyer works for his client, there is such a thing as lawyer and client confidentiality. Another part of the same issue, when someone hires an attorney for someone that they are trying to control and make sure they take a case and do not tell. They start asking questions like did they mention anyone, did they say who did it things like that. How do you go about dealing with this? He tries to nip it in the bud, generally explaining that there is such a thing called client and lawyer privileges. The only information that can be passed on without consent is public knowledge. According to Vicken, the worst part about being an attorney is getting a guilty verdict for a client that you truly like and truly know, knowing that they do not deserve the punishment, and getting constitutional motions denied. With all of that to consider he still sees parts of that make him giddy like a schoolchild. 1. There is a new challenge everyday 2. Adventurous 3. Fast Paced 4. Thrill 5. Education you are constantly learning on the job. 6. Crime scene investigations 7. Excellent money 8. The courtroom is his playground he loves the theatrics.
At the end of the day, the most rewarding thing pertaining to his job is upon a client’s release they call mom and are ecstatic about getting out and by word of mouth passing along some important information. This interview has not changed my opinions on wanting to learn the law and possibly holding a position in the profession. I will continue with the education plan I have already started.
Questions for Interview 1. What were his education requirements
Education Bachelor’s degree 4 years Plus 3 years in a state accredited college. Once he passed the LSAT he applied at ABA accredited schools and none of them wanted him, 3.2 was the highest his GPA ever was therefore it was too low and they just were not interested 2. What did he major and minor in?
Major Business Administration
Minor Pre Law
Minor Finance 3. What his field of law is and if there were any special class, he has to take to start practicing in that area of law. There are no special classes to become a criminal lawyer 4. If there were any outside influence in sending him down the path he is on
Choosing the route of criminal lawyer apparently was due to and ex-girlfriend she was drunk driving and crashed on freeway and killed her best friend whom was a passenger no seatbelt. The attorneys that represented her saved her from prison and hired her as a paralegal. Lisa ordered Vicken to practice law. Lisa Has passed one she were shot at the house of blues in an unrelated situation and became a paraplegic. The person who shot her got caught 10 yrs later. He was only15 when he shot her so he only got like 3 years. Started as bankruptcy lawyer 5. What a typical day is like being Mr Hagopian. Crazy and hectic
