As hard as this might be to hear in a time of grief, at some point you need to stop blaming "big law" and take a hard look in the mirror. Only then will you be able to start assigning much of the blame where it really belongs, namely on "big ego" and "big greed." Maybe criminal defense lawyers should not be putting in 16 hours days trying to get their (almost always guilty as hell) clients off on their charges by whatever means possible. After all, poor people who have committed crimes have to make due with court-appointed lawyers who are usually willing do no more than the law requires. And as someone who has personally been a victim of greedy and viciously unscrupulous attorneys on the civil side of the law, I just want to add here that for some of us, a dead attorney is the only real "good attorney."