HARLAND BRAUN
If you believe the famous attorney, Alan Dershowitz, when he contends that well over 90% of criminal defendants in this country are guilty as accused, who would want to make a career out of trying to spring them? I wondered that exact same thing when I visited Harland Braun in his Century City office for the interview. Braun is a well-known criminal defense attorney in California.
He’s represented some of the famous and many of the infamous including Robert Blake, Steven Segal, Dennis Rodman, and one of the policemen in the Rodney King beating case to name a few. What’s more, Braun is known not only for representing his clients expertly, but in many cases getting them off.
Q. What did you start out wanting to be?
A. I wanted to be a doctor when I was young. Maybe that was because my mother was a nurse. My dad was in the cattle hide business, and that didn’t appeal to me at all.
Q. How did you happen to veer off the medical track?
A. I became very involved in the California Young Democrats. And at that time, everyone in the group seemed to be going to law school. It was easier than going to Vietnam.
Q. Did you ever consider making a career out of politics, the way your democratic friends like Waxman and Berman did?
A. No. I think you have to lie and kiss ass if you want to be successful in politics, and that didn’t appeal to me.
Q. Did you know from the start that you wanted to be a defense attorney?
A. Not at all. Actually, I joined the D.A.’s office, and prosecuted cases for five years. But, I didn’t care for the bureaucracy and the pay was pretty bad. So, I then went into civil law, but that was boring. It was 1973 before I finally started to practice criminal law.
Q. You are one of the most successful attorneys in L.A. and are therefore offered more cases than you can possibly handle. How do you determine which of the rascals you’ll defend and which you won’t?
A. In almost every case I take on, there’s an important issue at stake.
