Are you ready to chip in for Aaron Hernandez's lawyers?

[Patler]

Hernandez might be asking for a public defender??

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/...egal-team.html

[red]

like PFT brought up, thats just shaddy

i dislike hernandez and wish nothing but the worst for him, but this is just shitty by the lawyers. take millions off the guy to due nothing for the last year or so, then when the trial is coming up, "well you're out of money, I'm gone"

probably shows just exatly what kind of scum would be willing to defend that asshole

[woodbuck27]

It has to be difficult to try to defend a man such as Aaron Hernandez comes off as being.

That man is like "ICE".

[Patler]

like PFT brought up, thats just shaddy

i dislike hernandez and wish nothing but the worst for him, but this is just shitty by the lawyers. take millions off the guy to due nothing for the last year or so, then when the trial is coming up, "well you're out of money, I'm gone"

probably shows just exatly what kind of scum would be willing to defend that asshole

What did PFT have on it? I'm curious, because I haven't been able to find anything about how much the lawyers have been paid already, just info that Hernandez' assets are frozen because of civil suits, and he has no current income.

[red]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/05/31/aaron-hernandez-is-running-out-of-money/

it pretty much says the same as what you posted. he's been paying them for a year, now he can't because of the civil suit against him, so now they're bailing on him

here's the paragraph that got me. and keep in mind, this was written by florio who was a lawyer before PFT became massive

On one hand, something doesn’t feel right about lawyers bleeding a millionaire dry and then cutting him lose when he’s out of money. On the other hand, lawyers will end up being out of money if they work for free.

[Patler]

He doesn't offer any basis for the "bleeding a millionaire dry comment".

I think it is common for defense lawyers like this to require upfront payment of a retainer sufficient for anticipated costs to take them through trial, with fees applied against the retainer as they come due. I think it is more likely that rather than bleeding him dry. the lawyers went along with him for a while on a pay as you go system, but like so many athletes he may have been spending it almost as fast as it came in, so he might have had little cash on hand to pay them with. With his assets frozen and no current income, he can't come up with their retainer. The lawyers might even already have a lot of uncompensated time invested in the case. If they don't see a resolution to Hernandez finances anytime soon, it is better for everyone if they get out now, so that who ever takes over can develop the case in their own way.

It always looks bad when lawyers withdraw over fees, but who of us wants to work for nothing, regardless of how much we make? I don't see too many pro athletes willing to do it.

[MadScientist]

Rats jumping a sinking ship comes to mind here.

The lawyers have used up what they have been paid (at ridiculous hourly rates), and don't see any hope of winning and getting any additional money so buh-bye.

Actually a public defender will probably make things a lot cheaper for taxpayers. Odds are any PD won't fight like high-paid attorneys, so the court and trial cost should be much lower. The PD may even try to strike a plea just to be done with this mess.

[Patler]

Actually a public defender will probably make things a lot cheaper for taxpayers. Odds are any PD won't fight like high-paid attorneys, so the court and trial cost should be much lower.

Good point. A 6 month trial becomes a 5 day trial.

[Guiness]

His house, which in the grand scheme of things is not worth that much (1.2M) is frozen as part of a claim in a wrongful death suit. It looks like he could still possibly get the last 3.5M payment from NE, which IMO would be kind of funny. Kraft has said no way, but from everything I've seen there's very little chance they won't have to pay him it. It's a deferred signing bonus, theoretically he's already earned it.

[Zool]

If you hire a contractor at an hourly rate to fix your house and you run out of money half way through, should he keep working on your house? You chose the contractor and knew the terms up front. A lot of lawyers are scumbags, but there's no reason to work pro bono on this case.

[Guiness]

If you hire a contractor at an hourly rate to fix your house and you run out of money half way through, should he keep working on your house? You chose the contractor and knew the terms up front. A lot of lawyers are scumbags, but there's no reason to work pro bono on this case.

I get where you're going, but that's a bit of a straw man. You can't compare a dude making $30/hr that shows up in an old pickup truck with paint spattered overalls to a guy probably charging $500+ (and I'm likely being conservative, likely near double that) and drives a 7 series BMW. Commensurate with charging that amount, he takes on certain responsibilities. If Hernandez had $500K in his legal fund, and the team of lawyers knew they would burn through that in the first 6 months of a 2 year trial...but what those responsibilities are, and where they come from I don't pretend to know.

[MadScientist]

I get where you're going, but that's a bit of a straw man. You can't compare a dude making $30/hr that shows up in an old pickup truck with paint spattered overalls to a guy probably charging $500+ (and I'm likely being conservative, likely near double that) and drives a 7 series BMW. Commensurate with charging that amount, he takes on certain responsibilities. If Hernandez had $500K in his legal fund, and the team of lawyers knew they would burn through that in the first 6 months of a 2 year trial...but what those responsibilities are, and where they come from I don't pretend to know.

If Hernandez didn't want to get gouged by high priced lawyers, he shouldn't have murdered people. Given the articles on PFT, those lawyers were really doing a lot to plant the seeds of doubt as to whether AH pulled the trigger, causing the prosecutors to change tactics (e.g. charging all 3 with murder together). With the new charges, their job will be that much harder (and more expensive). It's possible he could have kept the team together for one trial, but not several, so the lawyers may as well bail now that there is no chance of getting more money. Whether he could get this kind of work from a cheaper lawyer looking to make a name for himself, we'll never know. At this point there's so much piling up on him that I don't think a lawyer will have much of a chance to make a name on this case.

Just get a PD to plea to something with guaranteed 40 years behind bars. Then dump him when he is old, weak and broke and let the scum die in the streets, alone and miserable.

[Patler]

I get where you're going, but that's a bit of a straw man. You can't compare a dude making $30/hr that shows up in an old pickup truck with paint spattered overalls to a guy probably charging $500+ (and I'm likely being conservative, likely near double that) and drives a 7 series BMW. Commensurate with charging that amount, he takes on certain responsibilities. If Hernandez had $500K in his legal fund, and the team of lawyers knew they would burn through that in the first 6 months of a 2 year trial...but what those responsibilities are, and where they come from I don't pretend to know.

You could look at it the opposite way, too. If Hernandez wasn't going to have enough to pay them all the way through trial, he should have hired someone else.

In reality, I suspect that his ability to pay has changed from what they expected a year ago.

Even at $1000/hour, a lawyer makes a lot less than Hernandez would have made in one season.

[Just Jeff]

Way to go Patler. This is a really shitty thread. You are forcing us to choose between a mass murdering thug and lawyers.

[pbmax]

If you hire a contractor at an hourly rate to fix your house and you run out of money half way through, should he keep working on your house? You chose the contractor and knew the terms up front. A lot of lawyers are scumbags, but there's no reason to work pro bono on this case.

I don't know. There are important legal principles at stake here, such as the right to exact retribution for spilling a guy's drink.