ABE LAESER RETIRES

From Abe Laeser
Shalom

I was sworn in as an Assistant State Attorney on May 2nd, 1973. It was the day after I had become a member of the Florida Bar. No other job ever seriously tempted me to leave. What I am can be found in the immortal words of Paul Simon, when he sang of the One Trick Pony: "He's just a one trick pony (that's all he is),
But he turns that trick with pride."

Prosecution has been by vocation, my avocation, and my true love for nearly 36 years. I leave this, my home, with the greatest of regret - even sorrow. As Thomas Carlyle once wrote, as if he were writing only for me: "Blessed is he who has found his work; let him ask no other blessedness." My friends, my colleagues, my compatriots in battles too numerous to mention -- all these will forever have a place in my heart.

Many have asked me about a most memorable moment. There have been many extremely similar moments that I have taken most to heart. I have had one single request - one that mercifully I have never had to carry out; yet it meant the world to me, because it spoke truth in its loudest possible voice. Fellow prosecutors, officers, defense attorneys, and even judges had made one request. The gist of it was: "If my family member should ever be murdered, could you personally prosecute the case?" This is perhaps the only legacy that will stay in my mind forever. It means too much for me to ever forget.

G-d bless you all with wisdom and courage in this special calling, as prosecutors.

SHALOM.

Rumpole says: The above missive was an email Mr. Laeser sent to all the prosecutors at the SAO as he leaves after 36 years of dedicated service to this community. We reprint it with his permission. 

Mr. Laeser, (Abe to many) needs no introduction to the majority of people who read this blog. Chief of Major crimes when the SAO had a Major Crimes unit, he was THE prosecutor that the community turned to when the worst of tragedies struck- when a law enforcement officer was killed in the line of duty.  Along the way, as many have written, Mr. Laeser trained hundreds of prosecutors in how to investigate and prepare a case; how to do it exceptionally well; and how to do it ethically and honestly.  We really are not the one to recount all that Mr. Laeser has meant to the SAO and Miami.  Already one judge has posted a comment and we encourage all lawyers and Judges to do the same. 

We leave you with this link to a blog post The Case That Made Miami Burn, and Roy Black's recollections of doing battle with the best the Miami SAO had. 

Roy ended his comment with this:

"You know if you have tried a case against Abe Laeser you have met their best lawyer."

Rumpole says: It's worth reading what Abe Laeser had to say about trying the Alvarez case against Roy Black. Because he called it "my best case and worst loss."

And what does that mean? To us it means there is value in trying your best, no matter what the odds, and accepting the results. As we teach lawyers from time to time, rather than being bitter about the loss (blaming the judge or the jury or the client or a witness) embrace the loss and learn everything you can from it.  By doing that you will realize that losing a case is the most valuable lesson a trial lawyer can have, and it will- as Mr. Laeser has shown- make losses in the future extremely rare events. 

G-dspeed Mr. Laeser.