Zimmerman's Attorneys

Having been an attorney for over 25 years now, I have a great deal of sympathy for what George Zimmerman’s attorneys are going through.

Zimmerman, you may recall, is the self-appointed neighborhood watch captain involved in the shooting of 17 year old Treyvon Martin in Sanford, Florida.

Zimmerman’s attorneys, who are fairly high-profile criminal lawyers, are to be commended for taking a case that is incredibly unpopular. Everyone, regardless of how morally repulsive they may be, is entitled to competent legal representation in this country. It always amazes me how otherwise educated and intelligent people fail to recognize that this is one of the foundational concepts of our country.

John Adams, the second President of the United States, recognized this early on and represented 8 British soldiers involved in shooting into a crowd and killing civilians in the “Boston Massacre”.

http://mnbenchbar.com/2011/04/a-proud-tradition-representing-the-%E2%80%9Cunpopular-cause%E2%80%9D/

I appreciate attorneys who take on unpopular cases because it’s the “right” thing to do, like Atticus Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird.” When they do it without any fee, like the lawyers for Zimmerman did, it’s even more noble to some extent. At the very least, it’s a personal sacrifice.

The problem is that no good deed goes unpunished, especially if you have a client who seems inclined to “go rogue” anyhow. Lots of times there are signs that you can watch for in clients that will let you know they’re going to be difficult in that regard.

Things like refusing to keep appointments, or fill out paperwork or provide necessary details to the lawyer. Calling the other side (or their lawyer) to try to negotiate around their attorney is a big ol’ red flag, too. Every lawyer has had either the nightmare about or the actual experience of learning some damning fact about their client from the witness stand, in front of the jury and judge and the client then trying to justify their failure to disclose.

“Yeah, DSS took my first two kids away. Why, was that important?”

“But that happened a long time ago; it’s been almost 3 months since that DUI.”

“We ‘self-divorced’ in another state. I can’t remember which one. I’m sure it’s recognized here, though.”

“Oh, yeah. I was convicted of that before. Did I forget to tell you?”

If you start denying representation to the ugly people, it’s a short step to denying legal assistance to those with whom the majority – or a vocal minority – simply disagree. Whether we like it or not, that disagreement and debate is one of the things that pushes society and ideas forward. It’s too important to risk limiting it.

Zimmerman’s attorneys realized they had the start of a problem when he stopped responding to telephone calls, texts, etc. Then they got word that he had set up a web site, contacted a talk show to arrange an interview, and was trying to call the Special Prosecutor to discuss the situation directly with her.

These are the kind of things that promote substance abuse among those in my profession.

When the lawyers are trying to control the message in the media for damage control purposes – especially in a case where your client is so unpopular that he’s had to go into hiding in another state because of the death threats – the last thing you want to hear is that he’s set up an interactive website and is making arrangements to go on a talk show.

Especially when that client has quit taking your calls.

So they did what any responsible attorney would do. The withdrew.

For those that don’t know, withdrawing from representing someone in a legal matter is often not just a matter of telling your client “I quit” (especially when you can’t get the client on the phone). You may have to ask the Court for permission (whether you’ve been paid or not), and have to take steps to make sure that the client isn’t prejudiced by the action, or that he or she has had ample opportunity to protect themselves before you leave. It can take hours to get out of a case that took only seconds to get into.

So my sympathy for Zimmerman, which admittedly wasn’t much before, is a bit less today. He had good lawyers who were trying to help him and chose to ignore their advice. Now things are going to get very interesting. The fact that his own lawyers can’t find him mean that he’s likely to be considered a significant flight risk if charges are actually filed. If that’s the case, bail, if it’s offered at all, will be significantly higher than it would have been otherwise. His court-mandated leash is likely to be quite a bit shorter than it might have been otherwise.

George Zimmerman, like many defendants, has probably failed to realize that his own credibility is pretty minimal and the Courts rely on the ability of the lawyers to handle their clients appropriately. He also doesn’t recognize just how valuable that “free” representation he was getting was worth. Smaller firms likely couldn’t even begin to take on a case of this magnitude, just because it shuts you down from too many other clients. They certainly couldn’t do it for free and a larger firm could easily require a retainer well into 6 figures just to begin to start a case like this.

Noble causes are one thing, but the bills still have to be paid.

So George’s life is likely to change in a lot of ways, all of them somewhat “unintended consequences” of his determination that he knows better than anyone else how to handle a situation, to appoint himself as neighborhood watch captain, to carry a gun and then to follow Treyvon Martin despite instructions from the 911 operator to the contrary.

And regardless of his guilt or innocence, or even the specific details of the interaction between him and a 17 year old African-American male, he may now find that his refusal to follow directions from people with more experience and knowledge than he has may come back to haunt him.

Maybe it’s my personal prejudice, but my sympathy lies with his lawyers who were trying to do the right thing by their training and profession and help their client. Because every time something like this happens, it makes another tiny cut and produces a bit more scar tissue in the already jaded outlook that many lawyers have, and the next person who comes along and needs quality representation, but can’t afford to pay for it, may not get it because George has already burned that bridge.