Networking

This was a paper for my Criminal Law and

Procedure class where I got to connect with a
former alumni from Nichols College who practice
law around the Dudley area. Being in the field of
criminal justice I was able to get advice from
someone in my field of interest and learned how
they got to where they are today. This paper
shows how I am able to connect with people on a
personal basis as well as broaden my knowledge in
the criminal justice field of work.
Dr. Leslie Brooks

Dr. Brooks was born and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts to the

parents of Harry and Rita Brooks and had one brother, Harry. At a time when

Dr. Brooks was about six years old the family suffered a house fire that left

him and his brother to live at an orphanage until his parents could afford to

take him and his brother back in. Living at the orphanage with his brother

away from his parents was a difficult challenge he had to overcome at a very

early age but four years later him and his brother Harry were back living with

their parents in a three decker in Worcester. Dr. Brooks attend St. Peter-

Marian high school in Worcester and by the time of graduation he was

already enlisted into the United States Marine Core. He was stationed in

North Carolina and says this is where he learned about hard work and

dedication that later helped in every aspect of his life. After his service in the

military he returned to Worcester where he attended Worcester State

University where he got both his Bachelor and Master Degrees in Education.

He then went on to Assumption College where he got his Master of Arts in

History and began to teach at Nichols College. While teaching at Nichols, Dr.

Brooks began to take night classes at Wester New England University School

of Law where he eventually received his Juris Doctor Degree and from here

he began his Law practice.

Dr. Brooks began his Law practiced when he was appointed to the

court as a defense attorney by Judge Laval Lebouf. From there he entered

Law practice with state representative James Whitney. When Whitney

decided to run for re-election he also decided to end his law practice which

forced Dr. Brooks to find a new partner in the business. That someone was

Alfred Erlich and when they came together Dr. Brooks decided to end his

criminal defense where he served over 300 criminal cases and decided to

practice Civil Law. While practicing Civil Law, he handled over one hundred

cases of real estate, wills, civil traits, etc. He was then admitted to the

Supreme Court of the United States. All during this time he became

Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Southern Worcester County

Rehabilitation Center and on the Board of Directors at Hubbard Regional

Hospital. Dr. Brooks served 27 years of Law Practice until he eventually

retired and stayed teaching at Nichols College.

One challenging event that Dr. Brooks had to overcome in his career

was a law suit by the bank on the Southern Worcester County Rehabilitation

Center. The federal law suit on the rehabilitation center was over pollution
and financial accounting problems. The bank was looking to put the

Rehabilitation Center into bankruptcy for the money they owed to them and

Dr. Brooks had to try and negotiate out a way so that the bank would be

happy and the Rehabilitation Center could stay and not be forced into

bankruptcy. After hours and hours of negotiation over the issue with the bank

Dr. Brooks ended up being able to refinance the debt with the bank so that

the Rehabilitation Center could remain up and running. One thing that Dr.

Brooks learned from this situation was to not half-fast anything. He knew all

along that he should have had someone qualified to look over the books to

make sure nothing went wrong with the money of the business but as much

as he thought about it, he never did anything leading to the problem to

occur. After the event occurred he learned to be ready for the unexpected

from the lesson and knew that he had to do something about this problem.

Dr. Brooks ended up hiring a specialist accountant to look over their books

once a month to make sure that everything was running smoothly. This

rehabilitation center is still up and running today thanks to the efforts of Dr.

Brooks.

Another difficult issue that Dr. Brooks had to overcome during his

career was the time commitment between being a professor, lawyer,

Chairman of two boards, a husband, and most importantly a father to three

kids. With his wife being a nurse and mostly working the night shifts Dr.

Brooks took on the responsibilities of caring for the children by himself most

of the time. He describes some days when his kids were sick that he would
take them to work with him because he couldnt simply take a day off. As his

children got older he says the work load got easier but having three kids in a

four-year span was something that was very hard to balance. From working

all these various jobs he learned how to balance his work and how to plan

ahead so nothing gets forgotten about. He had commitments to all of his jobs

and duties but he also made sure that his family always came before any of

his work.

Dr. Brooks says the biggest case decision involving his career was that

each criminal defendant is appointed a free lawyer by the state if they cant

afford one. This was a big part in his career because he was appointed all the

defendants that could not afford lawyers. Being appointed to all these cases

gave Dr. Brooks cases to look over and helped his pay as well. The more

cases that Dr. Brooks got appointed to the more money that he was making.

One challenge with this however was that he had to deal with all types of

different people in the community. Most of the people that were appointed to

him were from the lower class and even if he did think they were guilt he

always tried his best to get them in the best possible situation that they

could. He explained that a lot of the people that he did defend were guilty in

some way but he tried to make sure that all of his clients were treated in a

fair way by the state and that the state was not over punishing any of his

clients for what they did. Dr. Brooks said that he always believed that all of

his clients were innocent until proven guilty and pledged to give each one of

them his very best effort to do everything he could to prove their innocence.
 Changes in recent years that Dr. Brooks thinks will benefit his

profession is the development of the Board of Bar Overseers that was

developed in 1974. This board was developed after there was many

complaints about how lawyers were treating and handling their clients

cases. After numerous complaints, the Supreme Court developed this board

to make sure that all clients were giving a fair shot to prove their innocence

and that their lawyers were doing everything in their power to defend their

clients rights and to try and help their client the best way that they can. Dr.

Brooks said he saw many cases not handled properly and some defendants

actually got some sentences that were not fair based on their lawyers lack of

interest in the case. Now with the Board of Bar Overseers if a client does not

like the way in which their lawyer had handled their case they can complain

and the Board of Overseers to look over the facts of the case and see if there

was any wrong doing in the lawyers case. Before 1974 this board was not a

thing and many people were not giving the same opportunities in their case

because the lawyer would just dismiss it. The more money you pay the

lawyer the harder they would work on your case it was presumed before the

board was made and for many people they could not afford a lawyer so they

would be appointed a lawyer from the state that would do just to nothing to

help you out just because he wasnt going to be getting the same pay check

that week from your case.

When asked about advice he would give to somebody that would like

to eventually become a defense attorney he said his advice would be to get

out into the community and interact with everyone you can. He said that half

the battle about being a defense lawyer was that he had to deal with all

types of different people. Some of the people he liked and others he did not

but regardless of his feelings toward the individual they were all his clients

and he had to treat them all in the same manner and respect. He said by

going out into the community and making sure you can deal with all different

types of personalities on a daily basis is a key thing to do. Without the skills

to interact with all different types of people you will not do well in this

profession. He says that most people get into this profession with the

perception that they will like everyone that they defend but that is not

always the case. You cant like everyone but with this profession you do have

to treat everyone the same way regardless of your feelings toward the

individual.

If getting another opportunity to go back and take additional courses to

help in his profession Dr. Brooks says that he would have loved to take a

finance and accounting course. During his time as a lawyer he had to hire a

private accountant to look over his records because he did not know how to

them himself. This ended up costing him countless amounts of money

throughout his time working. Having the knowledge of accounting and

finance he say he would have done the books himself and would have better

financed his career to retire at a time in which he would have liked. By no

means did he not enjoy his career, however there was a point in time where
he did want to quit but could not because of his financial needs to help care

for his family.

If given the opportunity to choose another profession rather than the

one that he was in Dr. Brooks said he would not choose another profession.

Dr. Brooks claimed that he loved his job and would not doing anything to

change the path that his career had taken him. He said that throughout his

time working he made some amazing friends and colleagues that he is still

very close to today. Although it is in the same profession, Dr. Brooks told me

about his dreams of becoming a Judge at one point. Although he never made

it to be a judge he said that would be the one position he wishes he held

during his time working.

Today Dr. Brooks lives in Dudley, Massachusetts with his wife. Both him

and his wife are retired and enjoying their retirement. They travel all around

the country and spend the winter month in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Dr.

Brooks still enjoys going to the court house and watching different cases

unfold as well as watching shows such as Law and Order. He says that even

though he is retired he always tries to learn the new laws and procedures

that go with them. Dr. Brooks is very happy about the career that he had and

says he would not change a thing.