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White Collar Titan Reid Weingarten on Juries Clients and the Scariest Federal Prosecutor... Page 1 of 5 THE NOT FOR REPRINT AM LAW LITIGATION DAILY =! Click to Print or Select 'Print' in your browser menu to print this document. Page printed from: Litigation Daily White Collar Titan Reid Weingarten on Juries, Clients and the Scariest Federal Prosecutors Jenna Greene, The Litigation Daily September 4, 2015 Hope you never have to call Reid Weingarten. Because if you do, it means you're in a world of trouble. The Steptoe & Johnson LLP partner is one of the country’s preeminent white collar defense lawyers. His clients have included former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers, former Enron chief accounting officer Richard Causey, former Tyco general counsel Mark Belnick and film director Roman Polanski, as well as Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein. NY VIRA HP Cut if you do have to call him, here’s a bonus: he’s one of the most interesting, engaging lawyers you'll ever meet. Weingarten spoke at length with the Litigation Daily about his practice—what it means when he wants the “smart jurors,” what he says to prosecutors in their offices to convince them not to bring a case, how he and close friend Eric Holder Jr. years ago started a foundation that has helped thousands of juvenile offenders and at-risk teens. The interview has been edited for clarity and length. Lit Daily: A corporate executive recently told me he thought the best lawyers are as much psychologists as legal experts. Do you agree? Reid Weingarten: Yes, yes, yes. The ratio is probably two-thirds lawyer, one-third shrink. There are two distinct parts to my practice—the New York piece, largely CEOs and CFOs, Wall Street guys, hedge fund guys—and the D.C. piece, largely but not exclusively public official types and people who deal with public officials. These are all big-ego, extraordinarily successful people who find themselves dramatically at odds with Uncle Sam, because typically people don’t come to me unless the Justice Department wants to put them in prison for a long time and take all their money. http://www litigationdaily.com/printerfriendly/id=1202736534962 9/8/2015 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_023102