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White Collar Titan Reid Weingarten on Juries Clients and the Scariest Federal Prosecutor... Page 5 of 5 Ted Wells [at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison] and | did Mike Espy together. That was probably the first huge national trial | had as a defense lawyer. Espy was a very promising former congressman from Mississippi who [Bill] Clinton made secretary of Agriculture. It was very controversial because traditional, white hidebound farmers were not crazy about Mike Espy being secretary, and he was charged with taking bribes from Don Tyson. It was a huge trial, and | think there were 35 counts of not guilty on everything. That put me in a different place. I’m friends with Espy to this day, and very close friends with Ted Wells. LD: Do you wind up being friends with many of your clients? RW: Some, certainly not all. For many, even when there’s an acquittal, the experience is so harrowing that they want to close that chapter. To maintain a relationship with me would hamper that closure for them. With opposing counsel—these days, that’s prosecutors—one of two things happens. We become close friends or we never speak again. There’s no middle ground. LD: Tell me a little about the See Forever Foundation and how it came into existence. RW: By accident of history, [former Attorney General] Eric Holder and | are extremely close. We grew up together in the Justice Department and had offices next to each other for many years in the public integrity section. We're like family. We used to go to Oak Hill, which was then this dreadful juvenile justice facility in Maryland, and teach and tutor in the jail. We came to the conclusion that one-third of these kids are hopelessly gone, we can’t fix them no matter what, too much damage. One-third who knows, but one-third we could fix. These were the kids with the bright eyes and quick wit, usually drug runners. We made a commitment and we started the foundation. David Domenici, the son of the senator from New Mexico, and James Forman Jr., son of the famous civil rights leader, they deserve the credit. Reid Weingarten does not. | started it. Eric had to drop by the wayside when he became the U.S. attorney [for the District of Columbia], because he had to prosecute these kids. It was an obvious conflict. He’s been a supporter in his heart since then. But David Domenici and James Forman are phenomenally gifted lawyers who for 20 years threw their lives at this. They brought Maya Angelou in. Bob Strauss of Akin Gump gave us a million bucks, and we bought a building on Ninth Street in the Shaw neighborhood. That was a huge turning point. We took over the education at Oak Hill, turned it around, and right now it’s a model for the country. We are also a large public charter school. Frankly, it’s had its ups and downs. But when | put my head down for the last time and think about what I’ve done and not done, the See Forever experience will be one of the things that gives me the most satisfaction. Contact Jenna Greene at jgreene@alm.com or on Twitter @jgreenejenna. Copyright 2015. ALM Media Properties, LLC. All rights reserved. http://www litigationdaily.com/printerfriendly/id=1202736534962 9/8/2015 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_023106