Monday, February 11, 2008

It's Gonna Get Worse Before It Gets Better

There's nothing I hate more than being second-guessed by another lawyer. No one is as invested in your case as you are. They don't know all the facts. They don't know your client's specific wishes, instructions, and objectives. They're simply shooting from the hip in an effort to either make you look bad, make themselves seem smart, or both.

That said, I think Rusty Hardin is screwin' his client:
Hardin told The New York Times on Saturday that plans by Novitzky, a special agent for the Internal Revenue Service who has been leading a steroids investigation, to attend the oversight committee’s hearing while Clemens testified Wednesday were “unbelievable” and “brazen.” He had added, “I can tell you this: If he ever messes with Roger, Roger will eat his lunch."
Those comments pissed off Henry Waxman, who is going to lead the public interrogation of Hardin's client on Wednesday, which is never a good thing. Moreover, considering Novitzky is an IRS agent -- a taxman with a gun! -- they also probably brought fresh scrutiny of Clemens' tax returns. Fair? No, but that's how the world works, and Hardin should know that.

I'm sure Hardin has his reasons for continuing to treat a legal representation like a PR campaign, but the positives he has thus far achieved for Clemens (no man can say Clemens isn't a fighter) are starting to be heavily outweighed by the negatives (risky civil suit, potential perjury trap, Debbie Clemens dragged through the mud, angry Congressmen and IRS agents).

Some have said that Hardin is crazy like a fox. They may be half right.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Would you say they are panic moves by the lawyer?

Craig Calcaterra said...

I don't know about panic moves. Hard to read motives really. It's entirely possible that Clemens is mircomanaging him. Maybe he doesn't know all the facts and fills with bluster. Maybe he knows all the facts -- and is 100% certain that Clemens is clean -- and is just being brazen about it.

No matter what he's thinking, though, he can't be happy about where he's ended up at this point.