Interview with Sara Kropf

I had the privilege of interviewing Sara Kropf, a white collar criminal defense attorney who practices in Washington D.C. Sara is a seasoned trial lawyer who represents individuals and corporations under investigation for or charged with criminal offenses. She is a thought leader in the field and the author of the Grand Jury Target Blog. Sara is ranked by Super Lawyers as one of the Top 100 Lawyers and Top 50 Women Lawyers in Washington D.C. She is also ranked in Chambers & Partners USA and is a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers. Many of you will know Sara, but, for the few who don’t, I am so pleased to introduce you to such a passionate and compassionate advocate.

Tell us about your practice and how you get started in the white-collar defense field?

I am a co-founder of a boutique law firm called Kropf Moseley PLLC in Washington, D.C. Before that, I had a solo firm that I opened after leaving a very big law firm as a partner. My current partner, Andrea Moseley, and I represent individuals and small/mid-sized companies in white collar cases, in internal investigations, and in some defense-side civil litigation. Andrea also handles professional disciplinary matters. My practice focuses on trial work.

I always knew I wanted to be a criminal defense lawyer. In law school, I assumed I’d become a public defender after working at a big firm for a few years to pay off my student loans. I was a summer associate and law clerk at a boutique firm in Washington, D.C. called Miller, Cassidy, Larocca & Lewin. Everyone there was an incredibly smart trial lawyer. They could have been at any big firm in the city but chose to practice at a small firm. That’s where I learned that small firm practice is just as complex and rewarding as being at a big firm, and that I really enjoyed white collar work.

Miller Cassidy merged with Baker Botts before I finished a clerkship. Since I had a lot of student loans to repay, and I knew I liked the Miller Cassidy lawyers, I started as a junior associate at Baker Botts. I did not expect to like it very much, but I was wrong. It turned out that I loved the white collar work at a big firm. I was also getting great training and a fair amount of trial work. I stayed at Baker Botts for about 10 years.  

I found that I liked the complexity of white-collar work and enjoyed digging through all the documents to tell a story. I remember that the key exculpatory document in my first white collar trial was a single page of a long document that had a handwritten note in the margin. That scribbled note was the key to our entire defense and the junior associate on the case had found it one day as we dug through boxes of documents. All that tedious work was worth it.

You have your own firm –what do you think it takes to succeed in your own practice? Is the advice different for women?

Reputation is everything in white collar work because most of our work comes from referrals by other lawyers. The two secrets to our success are to do great work and to make business development an everyday practice.

Doing great work means not only crafting creative legal defenses but also being extremely persistent. If the first argument doesn’t work, then I look for the second argument. When the second argument doesn’t work, I look for the third argument, and then the fourth, and so on. The deck is stacked against us as criminal defense lawyers, so we have to work twice as hard to have even a chance of winning a case. Because I mostly represent individuals, there is also a lot of what I’d call “hand holding.” My clients are stressed out, they are terrified about what could happen to their lives and families, and they need a lot of attention and help to manage the situation. I make sure I’m available for them as people as well as clients, though we always maintain a professional line. I find humor so important in stressful situations.

You can’t do great work without clients hiring you, so I work hard at business development. Most of my business development focuses on referral sources at both big and small firms. My approach has changed over the years. The first few years after I opened my solo firm, I went out to lunch, or coffee, or drinks probably five or six times every week, even when I was busy with billable work. At the time, it felt like I was flailing around, not knowing if any of this development work would be successful. I didn’t learn for five or six years that it was the secret to being successful. During those early years, I really expanded my network and learned that I enjoyed business development as long as I was doing it my way. I didn’t worry about pitching big companies for business—they were not going to hire my solo firm anyway.

At this point in my career, I don’t have to do quite as much business development, but many of my referral sources have become friends, so it’s an easy lift to stay in touch. I try to help other people as much as I can. I keep an eye out for referrals that I can make to other lawyers; I will recommend a good doctor, or book, or financial advisor. I also try to be myself when I talk to people. I’m not perfect and I’m not afraid to talk with other lawyers about parts of my practice that are difficult or about times when I’ve failed at something. I think being genuine is so much better than acting like you are the best lawyer in the world who never doubts your judgment.   

What advice would you give a young woman who wants to pursue a career in criminal defense?

My advice would be to try both white collar defense and regular criminal defense, such as drug/gun/violent crime cases. Both types of criminal defense work are challenging and you will learn different skill sets. White collar defense work can be so focused on documents that you don’t learn the nuance of cross examining someone without a document in hand for impeachment. The evidentiary and expert witness issues also vary quite a bit. I wish I’d had the chance to handle non-white collar matters earlier in my career because it turns out that I enjoy them.

If you want to be a trial lawyer, I also suggest watching as many trial lawyers as you can. You will see a range of effective styles and will learn how important it is to find your own identity in a courtroom. Juries can see through you if you are faking it. You don’t need to act like a man or be the loudest lawyer to be effective. Plus, trial work is a craft. It is not an innate talent that some people have, and some people don’t have. You need to work really, really hard at it.

What women criminal defense lawyers do you admire and why?

My partner, Andrea Moseley, combines a deft legal mind with the biggest heart—she always amazes me with how she is able to read a person or situation like no one else. I’m always learning from her about how to understand our clients and even opposing counsel. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is also a role model. She’s brilliant and protective of defendants’ rights. We also see her being herself, like when she performed in a Broadway show.

What words best describe you as a defense attorney?

Persistent, prepared, and measured. I know some defense attorneys cultivate a “bang the table” approach, but that’s never been me. I will, however, wear the other side down bit by bit.

What is your proudest moment as a criminal defense attorney?

In some ways, any time a client hires me to represent them is a proud moment because the client is entrusting me with their freedom. It’s a lot of responsibility and a huge honor.

If I had to pick one moment, though, it would be winning an acquittal last year in a sexual assault case in state court. Most of my cases fly well below the public radar, but this one received some attention. My client was brave enough to fight it all the way through, and he was truly innocent. Hearing “Not Guilty” after a hard fought and emotional jury trial was one of my proudest moments, for sure. I had an incredible co-counsel (Barry Pollack), and it was a team effort for the client.  

What representation of a client has most stayed with you through the years and why?

My first criminal trial was when I was a brand-new associate at a big firm. It was a resentencing trial in a pro bono capital case in Mississippi state court. The client had a very low intelligence level and never should have faced the death penalty for a felony murder case after Atkins v. Virginia. We worked so hard on his defense, but the jury came back with a death sentence. I went back to my hotel room and cried. The whole process had been unfair—the judge and the prosecutor were clearly friends, and the judge had kept us from offering key evidence. I came into the trial as a fairly idealistic lawyer and left somewhat jaded. I learned that even working hard, being better lawyers, and having the law on your side may not be enough to win a criminal case. That’s a tough lesson. The only saving grace is that the client, thanks to the work of other lawyers, had his death sentence commuted to a life sentence several years later.

You have your own blog, Grand Jury Target, tell us about the blog. How has the blog impacted your practice? 

Grand Jury Target focuses on white collar criminal defenses issues. I love writing there because it’s much less formal than legal writing for clients and because I get to vent about DOJ policies and practices that are frustrating or simply unfair. When I started it in 2013, I thought it would bring in business. That turned out to be very far from what happened! No one read it except my mother, I think. But then we started sending the posts in a monthly email newsletter. That helps keep our firm’s name in front of referral sources and clients. The biggest benefit of blogging has been forcing me to keep up with current white collar criminal issues. I’m always scouring the news and Law360 and begging friends to send me ideas for posts.  

What has been your most effective business development strategy?

For me, one-on-one meetings have always been the gold standard. I still try to have lunch or coffee with someone several times a week. Once I realized that the point of these get togethers was not to ask for business, but instead to get to know the person, to find out how I could help the other person, and (most important) to have fun—business development became so much easier. I love talking to other lawyers about their work as long as they are passionate about it. And if we end up spending lunch talking about movies, or books, or travel, that’s even better.

If you could have defended anyone, who would it have been (dead or alive) and why?

I would have loved to be involved in the Watergate scandal, representing someone like John Mitchell or John Dean. That was one of the first high profile Washington scandals and it would have been fascinating to learn the inner workings of what happened.  

Best advice you ever received (and hopefully took)?

Don’t write or say anything that you wouldn’t want the judge to hear. I learned that when I sent a slightly snarky email when I was a junior associate about a civil discovery matter and then was horrified to see that email attached to the other side’s motion. My practice is inherently filled with a lot of conflict—someone wins and someone loses—and I care a lot about the outcome for my client. I’m not perfect, but I work very hard to be professional and keep my cool in every situation. It's not only the right thing to do as a lawyer, but I have found that it’s also the best thing for my clients.

One thing people who know you don’t know about you.

I love to relax by baking—the more complicated the recipe, the better. I took a weeklong baking boot camp class at the Culinary Institute of America last year and am working on perfecting croissants and pain au chocolat. Everything is better with chocolate.