Imagine you are in a legal crisis and you need someone who can fix it. Who do you call?

The Street Law class with Renee Lafayette found out this week with guest speaker, Attorney Greg Henning.

Henning is the founder of Henning Strategies, a law firm that according to their website specializes in “crisis management, legal counsel, and communications solutions in the critical hours before, during, and after the unexpected strikes’ ‘. 

On February 8, 2022, Greg Henning, attorney and former Assistant District Attorney in Boston, visited Leominster High School at the invitation of Mr. Lafayette. 

When introducing Henning, Lafayette outlined his impressive background including his graduation cum laude from Harvard, his work on Joseph Kennedy’s political campaign, numerous years as the Assistant District Attorney for Boston, his years teaching grades 8 and 12, and his unsuccessful run for District Attorney. 

On losing his bid for DA in 2018, Henning said losing was “the best thing that ever happened to him” as it redirected him to what he does now. 

The student audience was fascinated as Henning explained what he did for a living.

He started off strong with a hypothetical vehicular manslaughter case as he explained what he would do for his client in that situation, from taking their phone call, to personally arriving on the scene to assess the situation. 

His job is to look for cameras and most importantly, skid marks as they show the driver attempting to brake. “I love skid marks” he stated jokingly. 

One of the most important aspects of his job is something called “attorney-client privilege,” which means that he cannot tell anyone what a client tells him in private unless they are going to hurt someone. 

“I go to the grave with the information that I have,” he said. He even said that at times it can even go beyond the grave, such as if you wrote privileged information down in a notepad which could be found in your office after you die which is why most of his work is conducted over phone calls. 

He stated that his “phone is on 24/7” and he even shared an amusing anecdote with us about one of the most interesting times he had to excuse himself to take a phone call from a high-priced escort on Thanksgiving. This left the crowd stifling giggles, including from the few teachers and administrators on hand. 

Throughout his talk he gave out many snippets of free legal advice touching on social media use, behavior when arrested, and when to call the police. 

On social media he had much to say, as it is one of the tools he uses to do intense background checks for his clients. He couldn’t emphasize enough that “Nothing you ever do (online) is ever really protected, and its permanent.” 

He also advised students that if they are ever arrested, “Don’t talk to the police if they arrest you.” This is important as he said it usually ends with his clients creating “self-inflicted wounds” by incriminating themselves. 

Overall, the students seemed to greatly enjoy what he had to say, and some future lawyers in the audience were able to get some advice such as LHS Senior Anna Warry who has aspirations to become a divorce lawyer.

To that he said simply that while the pay is good, “divorce sucks” and advised against that field. 

The students were surprised at how little district attorneys make and how much more certain types of lawyers make.

His final advice he said is to realize that careers fall on a scale from fun to well paying. The students’ job is to find one that they enjoy that can become better paying over time.