Trials are hard enough, but attorneys get even more frustrated and disappointed when the verdict isn’t in their favor. They can even become angry and have lots of problems with their clients, like Drew Peterson and his lawyer, Joel Brodsky, when Peterson was convicted of killing his wife.Brodsky went on TV after the verdict and “blamed Peterson for moves he made at the trial” according to Joseph Hosey in the Bollingbrook Patch.
There’s a more recent example of an attorney bad-mouthing his client in the United Arab Emirates. He called him “the most stupid murderer I have seen in 40 years”after he was convicted of murdering a woman who claimed he got her pregnant, even though they didn’t have sex. He killed her with a stone and put her body in a bathtub and set the home on fire. The body survived because the bathtub was filled with water.
Attorneys might have dim-witted clients, but they shouldn’t bad-mouth them in public. It will only affect future client relationships. It could also impact their practice because potential clients will see them as unprofessional and possibly inept, so they won’t hire them. Besides, if an attorney criticizes a client publicly, it can show a lack of judgment for taking the client on in the first place. It’s just unwise all around, and can negatively affect a lawyer’s reputation.
As my mother said, “if you can’t say something nice about somebody, shut up!” (Mom’s comment was embellished for this blog post).