Former Ill. Governor Rod Blagojevich
A group of six young Chicago-area lawyers just landed a singular career opportunity: joining the legal defense team of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich as pretrial contract lawyers, meaning they're likely to spend the next several months poring over 3.5 million pages of documents turned over by the prosecution.
The six attorneys lined up in a courtroom on Thursday to tell U.S. District Judge James Zagel, who is overseeing the case in the Northern District of Illinois, that they understood the protective order they signed, requiring them to keep confidential the documents they will be reviewing. U.S. v. Blagojevich, No. 08-888. The six, mainly solo practitioners, are Aaron Goldstein, 34; Keenan Saulter, 33; Elliott Riebman, 27; Rob Walker, 34; Michael Di Natale, 28; and Robyn Molaro, 29.
Following a status hearing at which the judge set a June 3, 2010, trial date for the ousted Democratic governor who was indicted in April on federal charges of political corruption, the young lawyers said they were attracted to the case by its challenge and prominence. It may not hurt either that it was an offer of a long-term project during one of the worst U.S. job markets for young attorneys in decades.
"It's just an interesting white-collar case, it's high-profile, and it's fun," said Di Natale, an attorney at Di Natale Law Offices of North Riverside, Ill.
The six lawyers didn't know each other before the case, but many of them were acquainted with some of the senior attorneys on the case. Di Natale, who formerly worked at Jenner & Block, said he has known Blagojevich's lead lawyer, Sheldon Sorosky, his whole life through his father Joseph, who leads the firm they share.
"I think it's a very interesting case and will be a good experience," said Molaro, a former Cook County assistant state's attorney, who joined Blagojevich's senior lawyers in front of the TV cameras for a press conference after the hearing.
Giel Stein, formerly a lawyer at Winston & Strawn, recently joined the defense team as its fourth and final full-time lawyer. He will oversee the contract attorneys in their work preparing for the trial. Stein has some experience in the area because his former firm represented one-time Illinois Gov. George Ryan, a Republican who was also prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago. Ryan was convicted in 2006 and is serving a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence.
The hiring of Stein and two other lawyers -- Sam F. Adam and his son, Sam E. Adam -- was subject to approval by the court because Blagojevich can't afford to hire the number of lawyers necessitated by the size of the case, and they're being paid with the ex-governor's campaign funds, which otherwise might be subject to forfeiture. The senior attorneys are earning the federal rate of $110 per hour, and the contract lawyers, who were also hired with approval of the court, will be paid between $50 and $75 per hour.
