Devil's Advocate

One of my favorite tipster's pointed out this listing in the Florida Bar News Classified section on Friday:


DEVIL’S ADVOCATE - Every lawyer needs another lawyer to bounce ideas off of, and even to be a devil’s advocate, challenging your ideas even more thoroughly and incisively than your opposing lawyer would. If you welcome robust, well-grounded debate as the best way to make your arguments razor-sharp, then call me. George Zadorozny, Attorney-at-Law, Florida Bar ’82, Carlton Fields ’82-’86, J.D. Northwestern ’82, B.A. Yale ’78. $100 per hour. Legal research and writing (pleadings, motions, memoranda, appeals) also available. (727) 389-5973; gzesq@aya.yale.edu. AV rated. Office: New Port Richey, Florida.

I shot the Devil's Advocate an email with a couple of questions and got the following responses.

What gave you the idea for being a Devilʼs Advocate?
As to how I got the idea for my "Devil's Advocate" ad: It came to me a few months ago. For over 20 years now I've been doing contract work for lawyers, doing legal research and writing. Naturally we discuss these projects over the phone. Sometimes in these conversations the lawyer I'm working for advances an idea or an angle or a theory that strikes me as promising but vulnerable--and so I point that out, that is, I point out how the other side could attack us through what looks to me like a weak spot. We usually go on to debate the point vigorously until we're satisfied that we've cast out the vulnerabilities.

Because these debates are conducted in a spirit of mutual respect, with both of us aiming at the same goal--making the arguments for the client as strong and sharp and unbeatable as possible--we find them not draining at all, but invigorating and cheering.

I've been doing this for many, many years now, and I knew that I was playing devil's advocate, but it wasn't until a few months ago that I suddenly realized that it would be a good thing for me to tell prospective lawyers that that is something that I can offer them--much more than just legal research and writing per se. Of course I still do that too. It all depends on what the lawyer I'm working for wants. Unsurprisingly, lawyers who practice solo particularly value this opportunity for well-reasoned strengthening of their arguments through debate.

Has anyone hired you?
Yes, I've been hired by some lawyers in response to my "Devil's Advocate" ad.

Do you enjoy your work?
I enjoy my work very much--see the second paragraph of the above answer to your first question.

News and Notes

1. Ken Jenne's days in prison. (via Miami Herald and Sun-Sentinel). From Dan Christensen: Once Broward's most powerful politician, ex-Sheriff Ken Jenne now spends his days raising vegetables in the garden of a federal prison camp in rural Virginia.
Jenne, convicted of corruption last fall, talked briefly about his new duties in a three-hour deposition taken six weeks ago in a federal civil rights lawsuit in which he's a defendant.
...''I work in what is called the garden planting various vegetables,'' Jenne, 61, told Fort Lauderdale lawyer Barbara Heyer.

2. Prosecutors object to Joe Cool polygraph. (via Sun-Sentinel):

Federal prosecutors are fighting to make sure jurors never hear that one of the suspects in the murders of four people at sea passed two lie detector tests saying he did not take part in killing any of the crew members on the Joe Cool.Guillermo Zarabozo, 20, of Hialeah and Kirby Archer, 36, of Strawberry, Ark., who were passengers on the boat's ill-fated charter voyage in September, are charged with four counts of first degree murder and could face the death penalty. Their trial is expected to begin this fall.Zarabozo's lawyers say his favorable polygraph results should be allowed as evidence because they corroborate Zarabozo's version of events--that he was lured onto the boat under false pretenses by Archer and did not know anything illegal was going to happen until Archer fired the fatal shots.At a hearing in Miami federal court Wednesday, prosecutor Karen Gilbert said the polygraph evidence should not be allowed because it is not reliable and could have too much influence on jurors.
U.S. District Judge Paul Huck said he would rule after government officials conduct a separate polygraph exam of Zarabozo--a procedure defense lawyers said they welcomed.

Cuban Spy decision from 11th...

... is here.

Haven't had a chance to read it yet, but it's a 1-1-1 opinion. Pryor writes opinion affirming convictions and vacating sentences for 3 defendants. Birch concurs, but states that case should go to Supreme Court on venue issue and that murder issue is very close. Kravitch dissents on whether evidence was sufficient on the murder conviction.

I have a funny feeling this case isn't over...

Katherine Harris upset by Laura Dern's portrayal

After my post about the HBO movie Recount yesterday, I received an email from Suzanne Schmidt, Joe Klock's PR person, informing me that he and Katherine Harris would be on Hannity & Colmes to "discuss[] how Harris was unfairly portrayed in the film and how the film could be nothing further from the truth." Harris and Klock do a nice job on the show (see above for a short clip), but....

I'm still ready to give Laura Dern an Oscar...

More trouble for Kuehne prosecution and other lawyer news

In what already looks like a doomed prosecution against attorney Ben Kuehne, it just got tougher. Yesterday, the Supreme Court decided Cuellar v. United States, which holds (9-0 per Thomas) that the federal money-laundering statue did not require proof of “appearance of legitimate wealth” and the statute could not be satisfied solely by evidence that a defendant concealed funds during transportation. The Kuehne team will be pouring over every word of the opinion, I'm sure...

In other lawyer news, Goeffrey Fieger was acquitted yesteday. His lawyer, Gerry Spence, remains undefeated! Fieger had this to say (apropos of the above case): "I'm very pleased with the American system and the jury. I thank the jury for listening. I hope this puts an end to political prosecutions in the age of Mr. Bush."

And finally, attorney Mel Weiss was sentenced to 30 months (3 months below the advisory guideline range agreed on by the parties).

Recount

So I finally got around to the HBO movie Recount on my TiVo. I really enjoyed it. It threw me back to those days in 2000 when I was attached to the TV watching the twists and turns of the bitter election fight between Bush and Gore. I actually had dreams (nightmares) last night after watching the film...

There were lots of SDFLA references of course, since we were ground zero.

A guy named Phillip Nolen played Ben Kuehne, but he didn't wear the bowtie! Bruce Altman played Mitchell Berger. Laura Dern was an excellent Katherine Harris. The other main players were also very well cast. I may be mistaken but I thought I saw Kendall Coffee sitting as an extra in the Supreme Court scene at the end...
Anyway, if you want to relive some of those moments, it's well worth it.

Judge Highsmith to retire at the end of the year

So we were one year off in our prediction.

John Pacenti covers the latest news here. We will have more on Judge Highsmith soon.

We also send our condolences to friend of blog, Dore Louis, for the passing of his father Paul Louis. Like Dore, Paul was quite a character and quite a lawyer. Here is the beautiful article from the Miami Herald. The intro:

He was a dogged attorney, whose representation of a young black man convicted of murder by an all white jury led to a landmark 1984 ruling by the Florida Supreme Court.
He kept a cane in his downtown Miami office, not because he needed it to walk. He swung it in the air or banged it on the table to make his point.
Even when his clients couldn't pay their legal bill, Paul A. Louis stuck by them.
''He wouldn't give up when he got into a case,'' said Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Paul Siegel, who worked with him in private practice for more than 25 years. ``The law firm might not get paid, but he kept on it.''
Louis, whose legal career spanned nearly six decades, died Saturday at age 85.
Only a battle with throat and liver cancer could sideline Louis. Even as his health deteriorated, he checked in on cases.
''Literally after his voice was gone he was mouthing the names of clients that the firm still had and asking about the status of the cases wanting to be kept up-to-date to offer yes or no opinions on how to proceed,'' said his son, Marshall Dore Louis. ``His loyalty was just tremendous.''

I'm back!

I admit it -- I was on vacation and just got back late last night... That's the reason for the slow blogging. I'm catching up on mail, DBRs, email, and so on. Ahhh, the joy of returning to work. Just a quick skim of the inbox shows that there are some really interesting things going on -- John Pacenti had a great article in yesterday's DBR about attorney's fees in criminal cases, and in today's DBR, Billy Shields discusses how the Justice Building Blog broke a fascinating story about the removal of a state prosecutor from a homicide investigation. Will have more soon.... In the meantime, send me an email if you know of something interesting happening in the new federal courthouse!