The Legal Aid Society attorney-in-chief Twyla Carter says her biggest mistake as a young lawyer was staying in her echo chamber.
This is the New York Brief Q&A, where we hear directly from lawyers who practice in the Empire State. In their own words, lawyers shed light on who they are and what makes them tick.
Carter has led the nation’s largest and oldest indigent legal services provider since 2022, the first Black woman and first Asian American in the role. She spoke to me about knowing your audience in life and lunching at food trucks between meetings.
Q: Which real individual, living or dead, comes to mind for you as “the reasonable person”?
A: My father, who died in 2012, is the reasonable person. A military man who made sound decisions based on the facts but was nimble enough to change his mind based on new evidence.
Q: What was your biggest mistake in early years of practice?
A: Staying in my echo chamber. I tell young people this all the time — you have to get out of the echo chamber. The reason why we keep having the same conversations decade after decade is because we have not effectively addressed valid concerns about public safety from the other side, folks who are pro-law enforcement and see our clients as bad people.
Twenty-year-old Twyla is disgusted with me. I was very much a grenade launcher. I have learned as an older person that that just is not how it works. The way to get permanent change is to bring folks along on the journey with you.
Q: It’s the lunch break at Manhattan criminal court, and you’re famished. Where are you going?
A: It doesn’t matter what courthouse I’m in, I’m going to a nearby food truck. I usually have limited time and I’m eating through meetings. It’s unhealthy, but the food trucks in New York are pretty damn good.
Q: What book is on your bedside table?
A: “Strategic Fuel for Nonprofits” by Charles Moore.
Q: What’s a case you lost but should have won?
A: The last case I tried in Seattle, we kicked ass, but the jury found my client guilty. After the verdict was read, the jury made themselves available for questions. I didn’t usually do this, but I asked the jury questions after. I almost had a heart attack when they said, ‘We don’t actually know what happened.’ I was like, ‘Yes, that means she’s not guilty!’ That was my lesson: Do not ask jurors questions after because you will be mad. It still burns.
Read our prior New York Brief Q&A With Cyrus Vance Jr. here.
