PD’s Book About Her Cases & Her Kids Shows Why She Went to Work

When Claudia Trupp had a cancer scare, the New York appellate public defender decided to author a book. Written between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m.. for six months, as her husband, who is also an attorney, kept the coffee coming, it was initially intended for her children.

"I wrote it to explain to my daughters why I choose to walk out the door each morning, despite their frequent pleas that I stay home," the 41-year-old tells the Am Law Daily.

A former private practitioner at a white-shoe law firm in New Jersey, Trupp says that moving to a much lower-paid job at the New York City Center for Appellate Litigation 12 years ago was like finding her way home again. Representing convicted murderers and rapists who didn't otherwise have access to quality representation brought purpose and meaning to her life, she says, and she wanted her three children to understand the importance of having work that you are committed to.

Trupp's memoir, Hard Time & Nursery Rhymes: A Mother's Tales of Law and Disorder, details some of her toughest cases and how she approached them, as well as her experiences with her children. It was published last month by Rodale.

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