Emmett Hall to Give Retirement a Try
Nov. 3, 2021 – After some 30 years as an Assistant District Attorney, Emmett Hall has decided it’s time to retire.
He claims to be “frightened by the whole prospect,” although he has four young grandchildren he looks forward to visiting more often in Charlotte, N.C., and lots of books to read that don’t have footnotes or legal citations.
“I’ve already turned my alarm off,” Emmett said. “It was always set for 5:30, but now I’ll probably sleep until 6:30.”
Emmett opines that he got his job in the DA’s Office the old-fashioned way: “I knew somebody.”
Dist. Atty. Gen. Hugh Stanton, a longtime family friend, first hired him in the mid-1980s, but after five years Emmett decided to try criminal defense work with a private practice. After a few years, however, he returned to the DA’s Office, this time hired by Dist. Atty. Gen. John Pierotti.
Emmett had the rare distinction of working in General Sessions courts throughout his career at 201 Poplar. He admired and learned from colleagues including Jim Hall (no relation), Louis Montesi, Mike Boyle and Billy Bond.
“I learned how to deal with members of the defense bar, and that you don’t yell at people, but rather coax and cajole,” he said. “I also learned from them how to evaluate a case and what factors to consider.
“I’ve worked with some extraordinary people, most of whom are still roaming around this office.”
Asked what advice he might have for your prosecutors, Emmet said that preparation is the single most important thing.
“If you make yourself better informed about a case than anyone else is,” he said, “it just makes everything go a lot easier.”
Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich has known and worked with Emmett for three decades.
“Emmett Hall leaves behind a long list of prosecutors (and defense attorneys) that he has molded into great attorneys,” Gen. Weirich said. “His contributions to this office, to the justice system and to the public will last well into the future.”
A law career was not Emmett’s original life plan. Medicine was. He worked during college as a scrub assistant in the operating rooms at Methodist Hospital, but courses such as organic chemistry and calculus convinced him to try something else.
“So I decided if I couldn’t join the medical community, I’d lick them,” he said with a laugh. “I planned to go into medical malpractice, either for the defense or the plaintiff.”
That path did not materialize, and that’s fine with him.
“What I like and will miss about being a prosecutor is the opportunity to be of service to the community and the people I work with,” Emmett said. “You will hear that from virtually every prosecutor at their retirement. And it’s true.”