Which is Stranger - Mr. Shargel Going BigLaw, Or a BigLaw Firm Bringing On Shargel with His Ensemble of Clients?

[ by Melanie Gretchen ]

Criminal defense lawyer Gerald Shargel has closed his law office, the long-time base of operations for his his celebrated legal career that featured representing numerous Mafia bosses, corrupt politicians and celebrities in hot water.  Yet, rather than retire, Mr. Shargel is joining a big firm.  And perhaps that may be the strangest turn of events for Winston & Strawn, the firm he now will call home - as Mr. Shargel is expected to retain his old client relationships, and continue to make more, based on his current client list.  Here's what we can expect from him, going forward:

June 9, 2013, 10:00 pm
Criminal Defense Lawyer Closes Office to Join a Big Firm

In his celebrated career as a criminal defense lawyer, Gerald Shargel has represented Mafia bosses, corrupt politicians and celebrities in hot water, while trying more than 125 jury trials along the way.

Now, four decades after hanging out his own shingle, Mr. Shargel has closed the law offices of Gerald L. Shargel L.L.P. and on Monday will announce that he is joining the corporate law firm Winston & Strawn as a partner in its New York office.

“I’ve always practiced law on a narrow platform of a sole practitioner,” said Mr. Shargel, 68. “It’s time to try something different and expand my horizons.”

Perhaps best known as a lawyer for crime figures, having represented John A. Gotti and Salvatore Gravano, known as Sammy the Bull, Mr. Shargel is considered a top trial lawyer with a successful white-collar practice.

Among his clients is Mark Mazer, a New York contractor indicted in the scandal over the city’s automated payroll system who is expected to go to trial in September. He represented Oscar S. Wyatt Jr., the Texas oilman who pleaded guilty to paying kickbacks to the Hussein regime to gain access to Iraqi oil contracts.

He also handles a steady stream of public corruption cases, including the defense of New York State Senator Malcolm A. Smith of Queens, who this year pleaded not guilty to charges that he had tried to bribe his way onto the ballot for mayor. And clients whose misdeeds make for tabloid fodder, like the actress Amanda Bynes.

The legal recruiter who helped Mr. Shargel find his new home, Eilene Bloom of Major, Lindsey & Africa, said that she had been initially concerned that white-shoe law firms would be reluctant to bring on a partner with such a client list. Typically, these firms’ criminal-defense practices focus on cases like securities fraud or accounting chicanery. But Ms. Bloom said that she was quickly reassured when several firms expressed great interest in Mr. Shargel, though she declined to name them.

Seth Farber, head of litigation in Winston & Strawn’s New York office, dismissed the idea that Mr. Shargel’s representations of some dubious characters made him unfit for a big corporate firm. Instead, it is Mr. Shargel’s breadth of experience, having tried virtually every kind of criminal case — murder, fraud, political graft — that made him appealing as a partner.

“At Winston, we have a long tradition of being a firm that will take the most difficult cases to trial and win,” said Mr. Farber. “Gerry’s skills and background fit perfectly with that mission.”

An old-line Chicago-based firm with more than 900 lawyers and a specialty in litigation, Winston & Strawn has aggressively expanded in New York. In May 2012, it hired about 70 lawyers from the collapsed Dewey & LeBoeuf, most of whom — including Mr. Farber — are based in New York. Winston & Strawn’s chairman is Dan K. Webb, a former United States attorney in Chicago and a renowned trial lawyer.

Mr. Shargel, who is bringing his three junior lawyers and a paralegal with him, said he plans to expand his practice to civil litigation. His move, he said, was in part driven by his having grown tired with the administrative burden of running his own firm, and that Winston & Strawn had the infrastructure, reputation and resources to support his caseload.

He begins a new chapter at an age when other lawyers have moved on to practicing their golf swings. Mr. Shargel says he has never contemplated retirement. In addition to his trial work, he teaches criminal-law classes at his alma mater, Brooklyn Law School.

“I have a low tolerance for boredom,” Mr. Shargel said. “I have no interest in sitting around a pool in Miami Beach telling people what I used to do.”

[Dealbook, 6/9/13]