I still cold call!

January 29, 2010

Since my release from federal prison, I have had the pleasure of working with numerous defendants traveling through the justice system. It’s a 24 hour service really. My clients know that I am available to speak or meet with them at anytime. It’s one thing to say it, another to do it. I welcome the calls and meetings, because I can relate intimately to their anxiety. There is a life after prison, I remind them, and handled with dignity and strength it’s possible to leave prison happier and stronger than when you entered.

My consulting service is different, I am convinced, because I do more than teach incoming prisoners about the showers, commissary, visitation, and so on.  Of course understanding those nuances of prison are part and parcel to a proactive prison adjustment. More importantly, my goal is to help incoming prisoners recognize that even through the struggle of confinement wonderful things are possible. How do you want to spend your days? What message do your want your loved ones to feel and hear when you call home? How can you ensure that your visits are filled with joy and love, rather than pain and misery? These are the riddles I solve. And how do I meet these defendants to solve these riddles? Prospecting!

Working as a prison consultant involves prospecting. No different than when I was a young stockbroker working at Merrill or Bear.  While working in money management I would cold call all day, hungry to close the next deal.  My desire to retain clients remains intense, however, my focus-unlike my time as a money manager- has shifted to the quality of my work, rather than the quantity. My prospecting efforts have been focused directly at white-collar defense attorneys. I allocate a few hours every other day to the timeless art of cold calling. Truthfully, cold calling never bothered me much anyway, but after having powered through 388 days in prison, very little shakes me. Cold calling for some can be paralyzing, but if you have a worthwhile message and believe that your work truly provides value, you must summon the courage to make the calls- despite the anxiety. What’s the worst they can do? Hang up? Good news, you can’t go to jail for that, so have fun and enjoy the process. You could have the best message or product in the world, but if no one knows about it, it doesn’t mean much.

The response I have received so far has been overwhelming positive. Only one attorney has shocked me. Specifically, I was told guys just out of jail can’t assist those heading inside. Further he said prisoners should not be allowed to write blogs and books from prison.  For a moment I thought I was speaking to a guard, sorry a correctional officer.  His response saddens me, but does not deter me. Oh no. I know how much Walt Pavlo helped me prior to my term, and I know the advice I dispense changes the way defendants serve time. If a lawyer is too dogmatic to believe that someone just out of jail can benefit their client, so be it. Fortunately, I have found a number of lawyers that trust and believe in my service, and to them I say thank you.

Unfortunately, there are repercussions for defendants who choose to enter prison with their eyes closed. Preparations are the key, and without guidance it’s easy to make decisions that can totally disrupt a proactive prison adjustment.  My good friend and mentor Michael Santos has written a blog, posted below, describing the repercussions that followed when a defendant and lawyer failed to understand the idiosyncrasies of the prison system.

Michael Santos Blog- Prison Day 8,199

Every time I talk to a new prisoner who arrives at Taft Camp, I become more convinced of the value my friend, Justin Paperny offers as a prison consultant. Today I spoke with Rick, a businessman from Los Angeles, who arrived in Taft to begin serving a 27-month sentence for tax evasion. Rick’s struggle was much more difficult as a consequence of the inaccurate information he received before surrendering to prison.

Rick’s attorney did not advise him on the pre-sentence investigation. After Rick had paid his attorney to represent him through trial, the attorney switched to tactics and advised Rick to plead guilty. Rick agreed, but despite the strategy shift that would require fewer man hours by the attorney, Rick did not receive a refund from the exorbitant fee he paid. Worse yet, after the guilty plea, the attorney ceased to counsel Rick through the remainder of the criminal justice process. Without guidance, Rick fumbled through his meeting with the probation officer who prepared the pre-sentence investigation report. Rick did not know that he had a right to review the PSI report prior to his sentence. After his sentence, the attorney said, “You’ll be fine,” to Rick but he could not respond to Rick with any answers about life in prison.

When the day came for Rick to report to prison, his attorney told him to surrender to the U.S. Marshal’s office in Los Angeles. That wretched advice resulted in Rick being locked inside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, then in a holding facility at the Victorville prison, before marshals arranged for Rick to be transported in chains to the minimum-security camp in Taft.

Through MichaelSantos.net, my wife Carole makes numerous articles available to guide people as they confront problems with the criminal justice system. The articles do not offer legal advice; they describe what I’ve learned as a long-term prisoner, and they describe the experiences of others. People like Rick who are new to the criminal justice system could save themselves a lot of grief by reading more about the jaws of justice that are about to grip them. Even better, they should talk with Justin Paperny, as he can tell them the steps he took to navigate his way through the system successfully. Had Rick called Justin, he would have saved himself tens of thousands of dollars, and loads of paralyzing anxiety.

This morning I ran 10 miles, but an 8:00 appointment with the TOAD outreach group precluded my strength training.
[Consecutive running log: 3,586 miles over the past 404 days]

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