Confession time: I’ve always been skeptical of attorneys who litigate civil cases in the press. Send me court filings? Wonderful. Explain to me the finer points of law? Certainly. Tell me your client is a totally wonderful human being and it’s the other guy who is scum? OK, fine. But hold a televised press conference to advance the cause? Eh… not so fast.
The problem, as I see it, is that the media becomes merely a tool for leverage, regardless of the merits of the case. Reporters should be cautious here. If something is moving along in court, we can count on various rules of civil and criminal procedure to help sort fact from fiction. But those lawyers aiming to score big settlements by merely playing the public shame card are sidestepping some of the checks inherent in the judicial process. Extra scrutiny becomes necessary when lawyers act as publicists.
