Simplify the following text for a Grade 9 native English-speaking person.
Original: Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center cites Atticus Finch as the reason he became a lawyer , and Richard Matsch , the federal judge who presided over the Timothy McVeigh trial , counts Atticus as a major judicial influence .
Simplified: Morris Dees says that Atticus Finch was the reason he became a lawyer , and Richard Matsch said that Atticus influenced him greatly .