Fredo Corleone didn’t survive the fishing
trip.
Six days ago, Blawgletter pondered "Who Hires Weak Lawyers?" We answered that clients who don’t respect lawyers do.
Today, Blawgletter goes a step further, plumbing the question of what kind of lawyer helps weak lawyers do the master’s bidding.
Current events supply context. Consider the resumes of Fredo‘s two principal assistants in the U.S. Attorney firings:
- Chief of Staff. Age: 37. Years since law school: 11. Criminal experience: Unclear. Served as "special assistant" to U.S. Attorney in suburb of Washington, D.C. But his name never appears on court dockets in PACER.
- Senior Counsel and White House Liaison. Age: 33. Years since law school: 8. Criminal experience: Six months working in U.S. Attorney’s office in the same suburb. Her name shows up on dockets for a total of three cases, none of which resulted in a trial.
Let’s not forget Fredo himself:
- Attorney General. Age: 51. Years since law school: 25. Criminal experience: None before 2 years as Attorney General.
Or the White House Counsel:
- White House Counsel. Age: 61. Years since law school: 37. Criminal experience: None.
Compare these credentials with those of the U.S. Attorneys whose performance they judged unacceptable (some numbers approximate):
- Patrick Fitzgerald. Age: 46. Years since law school: 22. Criminal experience: 22 years as federal prosecutor in New York and Chicago.
- Daniel G. Bogden. Age: 50. Years since law school: 29. Criminal experience: 29 years as federal prosecutor in Reno, Nevada.
- Paul K. Charlton. Age: 45. Years since law school: 28. Criminal experience: 26 years as federal prosecutor in Phoenix.
- Margaret Chiara. Age: 63. Years since law school: 28. Criminal experience: 6 years as federal prosecutor in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and 14 years as state prosecutor in Cass County, Michigan.
- H. E. "Bud" Cummins III. Age: 50. Years since law school: 18. Criminal experience: 3 years as law clerk to federal trial judges and six years as federal prosecutor in Arkansas.
- David Iglesias. Age: 48. Years since law school: 23. Criminal experience: 21 years as Judge Advocate General (including time in Reserve), a stint as state prosecutor in Santa Fe, and 6 years as federal prosecutor in New Mexico.
- Carol Lam. Age: 48. Years since law school: 22. Criminal experience: 21 years as federal prosecutor in San Diego.
- John McKay. Age: 51. Years since law school: 25. Criminal experience: 2 years as special assistant to FBI director and 6 years as federal prosecutor in Seattle.
- Kevin Ryan. Age: 49. Years since law school: 24. Criminal experience: 11 years as state prosecutor, 8 years as state criminal judge, and 5 years as federal prosecutor in San Francisco.
So, we have lawyers with a total criminal experience of, at best, 4 years assessing the prosecutorial performance of lawyers who average 20. Say it ain’t so.
Barry Barnett
