Hey friends from Dallas, TX.
Are you new here? Please subscribe.
Welcome to 290 people. We are so close to 300. Maybe next week.
You may have noticed that I missed last week. It’s the first time I missed in 22 weeks.
I needed it. Glad to be back with you all.
You never know the moment that will change your life.
It’s impossible to predict when it will happen. Most of the time it’s impossible to realize when it’s happening. But days, months, years, or even decades later you look back and realize an event changed the trajectory of your life.
I was a year into my journey as a felony prosecutor in Dallas, TX. I had tried aggravated robberies, aggravated assaults, and other violent felonies in my first year. I was lucky. Not many prosecutors are thrown into the deep end and told to swim. My bosses saw something in me and let me figure it out.
The hours were long. The stress was high. But the results and growth were incredible.
I had established myself in the office as a true trial lawyer. I loved it. Every single minute of it. The hours, the stress, but most of all, the gamesmanship.
So 1 year in I was being considered for a spot in the Child Abuse division. When I say Child Abuse you may think of Law and Order: SVU. That’s exactly right. Horrible crimes. Brutal people. Soul-Scarring stories.
My boss at the time didn’t want me to go. The head of the child abuse unit wanted to take me. They fought. Ultimately, my direct boss won.
But this wasn’t the moment that I look back on as the big change. I’m forever grateful that my boss and others high in the office took an interest in me. The court I was working in was the most difficult for a prosecutor. But life for me as a trial lawyer was great. I went to trial. I played the game. I honed my skills.
So for another year, I spent my time as a felony prosecutor trying violent felonies. These included intoxicated manslaughters, manslaughter, murder, and capital murders. The worst of the worst. The highest stakes…or so I thought.
Because at the end of that 2nd year, I got a phone call.
“Mr. Crabtree, come up to my office.”
This was the phone call that changed the trajectory of my life.
As I walked into the office of the number 2 in our office of 500 lawyers, I wasn’t sure what would happen. But then I found out.
Congratulations. You’re going to the Child Abuse Division.
You’re going to take over the heaviest docket with the oldest cases. We need you to clean it up. We need you to take control. Congratulations again.
This was the moment that changed the trajectory of my life.
I learned from psychologists. I learned from FBI behavioral specialists. I dealt with the highest stakes, the most emotionally charged, and the most difficult cases a trial lawyer will ever encounter.
Another time I’ll tell you more.
I’m a trial lawyer. I’ve refined my craft, my strategy, and my tactics in situations where life and freedom are on the line.
I’m a speaker. I’ve refined my craft, my strategy, and my tactics in situations where my words impacted the trajectory of lives.
I’m not one. I’m both.
I’m Robbie.
Now for 3 things.
I am running a 21-day email series to help people become the speaker of their dreams. Click on that link to sign up.
I talked about emotional truth as the foundation of stories in this YouTube video. Please subscribe to my channel.
I talked about the power of silence using Silicon Valley and a real trial I had as a Child Abuse prosecutor. Please subscribe to my channel.
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.” Winston Churchill
See you next week.
Robbie