Lancaster County
Public Defender
Public Defender
lancaster.ne.gov
I worked for and with Dick Goos in a variety of capacities over the years - I was his bartender and occasional chauffeur, his law clerk and sometimes investigator, and I was always his student in matters of the law, courtroom advocacy, and life. I met Dick Goos in 1970, during my senior year of undergraduate school at UNL when I took a part time job bartending at The Flame Club, then owned by T. Clement Gaughan, Dick's law partner at the time. Dick and Clem had been practicing together since Dick's graduation from law school in 1961. You can learn a great deal about a person as their bartender. I immediately learned that Dick was a very intelligent, easy to get to know, good-hearted, fun loving person. I also learned that he could be a forceful advocate for any position that he would take. I listened to many discussions between Clem and his friends around their table at the Flame Club.
Political discussions were especially heated because of the times - this was during the Vietnam War and the Watergate investigation. As a new employee who didn't always agree with his boss' politics, I tried to avoid participation in these discussions but Dick would always press me for my opinion. I remember one occasion when Dick was sitting alone at the bar talking to me and he asked what I thought on a certain subject, and when I told him, he forcefully and factually argued the opposite side. Later that evening, I saw him sitting at the table with Clem forcefully and factually arguing the exact opposite position that he had taken with me. Thus he taught me lesson number one for a courtroom advocate - know your facts and know how to argue both sides of an issue.
Dick, among others, encouraged me to go to law school. As luck would have it, this was occurring at the same time that the Lancaster County Public Defenders Office was being established. So Clem and Dick offered me the job of law clerk/investigator and I readily accepted. Following graduation from law school, they offered me a job as a deputy public defender and I was thrilled. As a law clerk and a young lawyer I came to appreciate Dick and all that he stood for, as many young lawyers have since.
In a profession that has given birth to some of the world's largest egos and a win-at-all-cost mentality, Dick was a breath of fresh air with his unpretentious manner and his commitment to ethical principles. In a society that is frequently so self absorbed, Dick gave of himself freely. And in a world that can often be inhumane and intolerant, Dick was a shining example of compassion and respect for all people.
Dick was always unassuming. He had a great intellect and his easygoing manner and unpretentious attitude made him a very effective advocate in the courtroom. This was not something he learned, it was something he was.
Dick was always willing to put his work aside and help others with a question or a project. Oftentimes when I would walk past his office, I would see another staff attorney or law clerk in Dick's office seeking assistance. Calls would come in from attorneys all over the state who just knew that Dick would have the answer to a question and that he would take the time to provide it.
He was always reading cases and putting copies into a series of file folders, the organization of which was a mystery to all but Dick. When he was presented with a question about a matter of law or procedure, we would all marvel at his ability to effortlessly pull out from his many cases and folders, the exact case we needed, directly on point.
Dick helped many young attorneys in the office learn to try jury cases. I was one. I assisted Dick with at least two jury trials when I first started with the office. As a young attorney, I was not sure of myself and was somewhat reluctant to try a case by myself. I know Dick was aware of my insecurities and he continued to encourage me. Then one day, when I was walking down the hall in the old district court, Dick handed me a felony file involving an escape charge and told me to go try the case, because he had been called to trial in two courtrooms at once. I started listing a million reasons why I couldn't do it, but Dick said, "Its only an escape case where the client walked away from a work release center and went to a bar. I know you can do it." He then walked swiftly away to another courtroom. When that case resulted in an acquittal, Dick said I would have to handle all the escape cases from that point forward.
Dennis Carlson, another deputy public defender in the early days of the office, remembers second chairing Dick in one of his first experiences in a jury trial. Carlson said that the case was a horrible one and while he listened to the victim's testimony as it was guided by the prosecutor, he became very nervous and unsettled. He whispered to Dick, "What do we do now?" Dick whispered in reply, "Act like a rabbit in a Texas hailstorm." Dennis Carlson thought he hadn't heard Dick correctly and asked him to repeat it, which Dick did "Act like a rabbit in a Texas hailstorm," Dick said, "just hunker down and take it."
Dick also had great compassion for his fellow man and a respect for all people, whether it be a judge of the Supreme Court, a fellow employee, a prosecutor or one of his clients. Lori McGerr, a long time secretary in the public defenders office recalls how Dick would always give her his tapes of dictation and would politely request that she type them and would then always thank her for her efforts. Everyone was treated with respect by Dick, even clients who had never been shown respect by anyone in their lives.
Judge Blue, one of the district court judges, remembers a post conviction case where a former client of Dick's was alleging that Dick represented him incompetently (such claims are not an uncommon occurrence in our profession). Dick was in the courtroom to hear the testimony of the former client lambasting Dick's efforts on his behalf. As they walked out of the courtroom at the end of the day's testimony, Dick put his arm around the former client's shoulders and wished him good luck.
His compassion and respect for others allowed him to remain calm in the face of adversity. Jerry Soucie, one of the former deputies in the public defenders office recalls a time when Dick invited the attorneys in the public defenders office out to the Congress Inn where Dick would occasionally stop for a drink. Jerry said he felt the atmosphere at the bar becoming more threatening as the night wore on, with a couple at one table arguing and a bottle smashing on the floor. Jerry leaned over and asked Dick if this was a dangerous place, and Dick, continuing to open pickle cards, said "Oh no, they're very good people in here." At that very instant, as if on cue, two guys jumped up at another table and squared off to fight one another. One of their chairs came flying 30 feet across the room and came to rest beside Rosilee. The other attorneys were looking for the nearest exits but Dick never flinched. He continued to open his pickle cards and remarked that "Of course, they can get a little rambunctious at times."
Another incident also illustrates his ability to remain calm in the face of a storm. Every office has its moments, and ours was not the exception. At one point the petty bickering and complaining got so irritating that I called a meeting of the office attorneys for a fall day in Cooper Park. Everyone was given their time to get things off their chest, and many took the opportunity to argue or whine about this or that. Dick sat quietly, never uttering a word during the whole event. At the end, someone asked Dick if he had a comment and he stood and looked at all of us and said, "I love you all like second cousins."
Dick was involved in many of the most notorious cases in Nebraska history and he was always a strong advocate for his clients. But the cases that gave him the most pleasure were not those that captured headlines. He was always a fighter for the underdog. The acquittal he won for the food service worker at the Lincoln Country Club accused of stealing an expensive Rolex watch from a member was one of those cases that Dick always remembered fondly. Another involved a University professor who hired a poor smuck to burn his house down. The professor was given immunity to testify against the poor smuck and Dick represented the poor smuck, who was acquitted by the jury, most surely because of Dick's cross-examination of the professor.
The staffs of the public defenders office have many fond memories of Dick:
"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."
Dick Goos, you succeeded.
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