Highs and Lows Of Their Careers

· William H. Jeffress Jr., 61

Partner, Baker Botts law firm

High:"I was representing a British solicitor who was indicted -- they ultimately offered him a deal to plead guilty to a misdemeanor. He said no way. The jury acquitted him. He's still a good friend."

Low:"When you lose a case you thought you should have won. . . . You lie awake at night thinking: 'What could I have done better?' "

· Amy Jeffress, 41

Deputy chief of the organized crime and narcotics trafficking section, U.S. Attorney's Office

High: At the sentencing of a homicidal drug gang, "a mother whose son was killed by mistake -- a 17-year-old going off to college who was killed in the middle of a drug beef -- was the first to speak. She turned to the defendants and said: 'I want you all to know I forgive you. I don't want to keep hating you. I've given this to God.' Her words were incredibly powerful, and I remember them often."

Low:"I interviewed another mother of a homicide victim, who was shot when he was only 20. She said he had been getting in and out of trouble since the age of 13, and she had given up on him back then. Here I am trying to do justice by her son, and she had stopped caring. It left a pit in my stomach."

· Jonathan Jeffress, 35

Assistant federal public defender

High:"In my first jury trial, right before the jury came in, my client told me he thought I had done him justice."

Low:"When you can't convince a client to do something -- whether to plead or go to trial -- especially if you've already negotiated something very favorable for them."