Dennis the Menace

And it can be done with very broad requests, as with the overreaching subpoenas in the New Times case.

". . . it is probably MALPRACTICE in civil litigation NOT to seek the broadest possible 'discovery' of what the other guy might have," Eckley adds.

French agrees that there is a big difference between civil and criminal litigation. He sat through the Dan Saban case, and offers only high praise for Wilenchik's work there.

"He's a very fine trial lawyer," French says of Wilenchik, adding, "That's saying a lot."

But criminal law is far different, French acknowledges. As a trial judge, he says, he found, "There's a big difference not only in the law but how you present it. I think a jury reacts differently in criminal than they do in civil . . . They're more concerned about a person's liberty and the sanctions on the criminal side are generally considered to be much more serious."

So, French is asked at the end of the conversation, is Dennis Wilenchik a good person?

"I think he is," French says.

No one in town questions French's character or credentials.

"I've worked very hard to achieve that," he says. "This is not a time in my life when I want to tarnish it, though."