Lawyering on the margins: lawyers and drug-criminals before Mexican federal courts

This paper explores some of the empirical dimensions of the way in which lawyers litigate drug crime cases in Mexican federal courts. In particular, the aim is to illustrate two aspects of the relationship between the legal profession practice and the crimes related to the trafficking, production, possession and transportation of illegal drugs in Mexico. The investigation focuses on whether the distinction between ‘narco-lawyers’ and ‘lawyers defending other crimes’ could be pertinent and useful for classifying particular forms of legal profession exercise. Moreover, analysis also extends to how narco-lawyers ‘work’ in practice, and what specific practices could distinguish them from their peers. Research findings suggest that lawyers who defend drug-criminals in Mexico (1) do offer a better explanation to their clients regarding the status of the judicial process, (2) present more evidence (witnesses, in particular) to support their client's innocence, and (3) obtain softer sentences (4) in less time than those lawyers who do not represent drug traffickers. Taken together, these findings suggest that drug trafficking may be contributing to a distinctive way of exercising the legal profession in Mexico.