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.

courtesy of the Arizona Republic

One of two known pictures of Dennis Wilenchik

The other picture is of an oil painting of Wilenchik.

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• Dennis Wilenchik
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• Civil Trials

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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."