Divorce attorney turned hit man employer, Manuel Martinez, is ATL's Lawyer of the Day. Martha Neil reports in the ABA Journal that the New York ex-lawyer was sentenced to 25 years to life for hiring a hit man to kill his client's husband 18 years ago, "during a bitter divorce trial." That's really bitter.

From the New York Daily News:

Martinez reportedly collected $100,000 for hiring the hit man who fired three bullets into George Kogan on Oct. 23, 1990, as the victim lingered outside his girlfriend's E. 69th St. apartment....

Martinez was "a lawyer who became a murderer," Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann told the Supreme Court jury in Manhattan.

The jury deliberated three days before convicting the lawyer of second-degree murder and soliciting. Prosecutors said Martinez admitted his involvement in Kogan's death to his ex-wife and an ex-con pal.

The lawyer was actually indicted a decade ago while serving a prison term in Mexico on unrelated charges.

From a Mexican prison for drug charges to a U.S. prison for murder charges. We wonder if this guy snickered his way through the lawyer's oath.

Martinez's client, Barbara Kogan, collected $4 million in insurance money after her husband's murder, but she's hanging out uncharged in Puerto Rico. "To say that this is an unusual case may be the understatement of my career," the ruling judge, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Michael Obus, said.

N.Y. Lawyer Gets 25 Years to Life in Murder of Client’s Husband [ABA Journal]
He's guilty in '90 slay of millionaire [New York Daily News]

We continue our occasional series on Ex-Lawyers of the Day, with this interesting email from a Biglaw tipster:

In the interest of lawyers turned novelists turned vigilantes -- this is for all of us who have received several calls an hour from headhunters -- the email below deserves a mention in your blog.

Rudy Delson is a former Simpson attorney who left law firm life for fairer pastures in Brooklyn to write a novel. His book is being published today. There are lawyers in the book. I understand it may even be literature.

Here's an explanatory email, from Delson to our tipster:

So, check this out. When I worked at Simpson, I saved the email address of every headhunter who ever contacted me. And then this morning, I was able to send them this...

Rudy Delson's blast email / spam to the headhunters, after the jump.

As Clarence Darrow once said, "Inside every lawyer is the wreck of a poet." Indeed, many lawyers harbor frustrated creative ambitions. Sure, they went to law school, and now they're out practicing. But they could have been novelists, or painters, or pastry chefs.

Or successful jazz musicians. From NJ.com:

Joshua Redman is quite the brainy guy, who very easily could have been some hot-shot attorney -- or judge, perhaps?-- living lavishly in New York City.

But the music bug took a big bite out of the summa cum laude Harvard grad, who scored a perfect 180 on his Law School Admissions Test to earn entrance into Yale Law School.

"I had moved to New York City and was on my way to law school," Redman says. "But during that year I had this incredible opportunity to play with some great musicians. The encouragement and support I got from them motivated me to continue. So, I decided not to go to law school."

And he's never looked back:

Almost 16 years later, it isn't a decision the acclaimed saxophonist has regretted.

"I probably wouldn't have been such a good lawyer," he jokes. "At the time, I essentially went to law school because, like others, I kind of didn't know what I wanted to do."

We can relate -- and we're guessing that many of you can, too. Law school was once described to us by Tony Kronman, then the Dean of Yale Law School, as "the great American default option." He added that law school is a popular path for smart and motivated young people "who can't stand the sight of blood."

So why did you go to law school? Are the reasons that you articulated for going -- in, say, your law school application essays -- ones that continue to motivate you today? Are you happy with your decision?

He's smart enough to skip law, and choose music [Hudson County Now via NJ.com]
Do You Believe in Life After Law? [New York Observer]