Jun 26, 2026 · 57 min · 29 segments
Randy Barnett is one of the most influential legal scholars in America. But before he was a professor, he was a prosecutor in Cook County, Illinois during the days that made Chicago corruption…
Randy BarnettGuestAliceHostBrettHostSo you actually are someone who doesn't need any introduction, but you've had such an incredible storied career.
And we're here to talk about kind of the beginning of your career as a prosecutor.
But before we get there, can you give our listeners just a little bit of background of why you became a lawyer, why you became a prosecutor, and then where you are today?
Well, I became a lawyer because of a television show that came on TV when I was 10 years old.
I watched serious television instead of reading novels and things because I have to read so much for my work.
But their show that came on when I was 10 years old was called The Defenders, and it was about a father-son legal defense team.
It starred E.G. Marshall as the father and Robert Reed, who ultimately went on to be the dad in the Brady Bunch as the son.
and it was a very gritty realistic depiction of criminal law practice in new york filmed on location so it had sort of a very true sense of it and i've actually watched it recently and it still actually rings true and that's what inspired me that's what fired me up i looked at the screen and i said that's what i want to be now at the same time perry mason had been on our television every sunday night And that never made me wanted to be a criminal lawyer.
Now, what was the difference between Perry Mason and the defenders? Well, Perry Mason was about solving murders.
Perry always caught the criminal, never defended anybody who was guilty except once at the very end of the run.
It was about being criminal lawyers and the ethical and moral questions that arise when you're doing that kind of work.
And I stuck to my guns, even though after going to Northwestern as an undergrad and Harvard Law School at Harvard Law School, they pretty much do everything to push you in the direction of big law or something that's high status.
And being a county prosecutor, which is what I really wanted to be, I wanted to be either a prosecutor or a public defender.
And my classmates said to me when they heard what I wanted to be, they said, well, that's noble, but don't you think you might be wasting your degree? The wasting your degree syndrome.
So you actually are someone who doesn't need any introduction, but you've had such an incredible storied career.
And we're here to talk about kind of the beginning of your career as a prosecutor.
But before we get there, can you give our listeners just a little bit of background of why you became a lawyer, why you became a prosecutor, and then where you are today?
Well, I became a lawyer because of a television show that came on TV when I was 10 years old.
I watched serious television instead of reading novels and things because I have to read so much for my work.
But their show that came on when I was 10 years old was called The Defenders, and it was about a father-son legal defense team.
It starred E.G. Marshall as the father and Robert Reed, who ultimately went on to be the dad in the Brady Bunch as the son.
and it was a very gritty realistic depiction of criminal law practice in new york filmed on location so it had sort of a very true sense of it and i've actually watched it recently and it still actually rings true and that's what inspired me that's what fired me up i looked at the screen and i said that's what i want to be now at the same time perry mason had been on our television every sunday night And that never made me wanted to be a criminal lawyer.
Now, what was the difference between Perry Mason and the defenders? Well, Perry Mason was about solving murders.
Perry always caught the criminal, never defended anybody who was guilty except once at the very end of the run.
It was about being criminal lawyers and the ethical and moral questions that arise when you're doing that kind of work.
And I stuck to my guns, even though after going to Northwestern as an undergrad and Harvard Law School at Harvard Law School, they pretty much do everything to push you in the direction of big law or something that's high status.
And being a county prosecutor, which is what I really wanted to be, I wanted to be either a prosecutor or a public defender.
And my classmates said to me when they heard what I wanted to be, they said, well, that's noble, but don't you think you might be wasting your degree? The wasting your degree syndrome.
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