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Thursday, May 15, 2008
A Respect for the Law
By Winthrop Quigley
Copyright 2008
Journal Staff Writer
In some ways you could say Craig A. Orraj learned how to be the New Mexico Bar Association president in 1988 at a law firm in Roswell.
“Talk about your gentlemanly, collegial practice,” said Orraj, who joined the Atwood, Malone, Mann and Turner firm upon his graduation from the University of Arizona Law School. “They taught me from the start some incredibly good principles in the practice of law.”
Among the principles, Orraj said, were to do right by the client, charge a fair fee, “and make sure at the end of the day you’re shaking hands with the opposing counsel because you’ll be seeing them again on another case.”
Fairness, he said, is “the roots” of the bar.
Orraj will also become a member of the American Bar Association’s Board of Governors in August. During his three-year term he will represent association members in Kansas, Arkansas, Iowa and New Mexico.
Orraj finds association work “helps your perspective.” Lawyers “get involved in our businesses, representing our clients, taking care of our families. Because of the adversarial (legal) system, we don’t necessarily get to know each other as people.”
Orraj, whose one-year term as state bar president began Jan. 1, wants the bar to be known during his tenure for excellent service to the public, to attorneys and to the judiciary. He is pushing for better access to the courts for low-income New Mexicans, aided by a grant from the State Legislature. The bar is creating a program to help teenagers understand the new adult responsibilities they’ll face when they turn 18.
And the bar is trying to overcome public cynicism over recent scandals involving the judiciary, from the metropolitan courthouse kickback indictments to the dismissal of a judge accused of fixing traffic tickets.
“When judges and lawyers go down the wrong path they should be treated like everybody else,” Orraj said. But he is quick to add that the nominating and judicial discipline systems work well. “There are so many good applicants” for judgeships, and straying judges and judicial employees have proven to be no more immune from discipline than anyone else, he said.
Orraj was raised in Yuma, Ariz., where his father worked in the insurance industry. Orraj was introduced to New Mexico when he was a clerk for a law firm here.
“I was fascinated by New Mexico,” he said. “They valued the quality of life more in New Mexico. Arizona was trying to be like California. New Mexico had it right, I thought.”
Orraj left Roswell in 1993 for a law firm in Albuquerque and a chance to live in a bigger city. He met his wife, Donna, in Albuquerque. They have two children.
Orraj became an employee of Farmers Insurance 12 years ago and handles litigation and other insurance legal matters. “My job is defined by the client, but what it comes down to is everybody wants to be treated fairly,” he said.
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