Via the first worthwhile post I’ve seen from Deliberations  since Anne Reed left to save the whales of Wisconsin, the Blog of Legal Times  posts about the advice provided Goldman Sachs’  executives when called to give “testimony” before Congress.

O’Melveny & Myers partner K. Lee Blalack II spoke to The American Lawyer for a March 2009 story about what it’s like to prepare clients for a congressional hearing. His advice: a congressional hearing room is not a forum for getting at the truth. A day in the klieg lights, he said, should end with minimal damage to reputation while not complicating a client’s position in other investigations or litigation.

“Long, thoughtful pauses followed by rambling non-responsive answers can easily devour half of a member’s allotted questioning time.”

Outrageous?  Disgraceful?  Maybe, but so what?  Effective?  You bet, and that’s why Blalack gets paid the big bucks, and you can bet the bucks are big.  Having watched some of the hearings, my bet is that Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein was too smart to heed sound counsel.  Clients are like that sometimes.

Lest anyone get too bent out of shape about the advice, bear in mind that congressional hearings are all about speechifying and showmanship.  The questions can go on for hours so that a Congressperson can keep his mug on TV as long as possible.  It’s not like they actually want an answer to questions, as long as they get to make a speech ask the questions.

There has been an explosion recently of new blawgs that run the gamut of emotional pleas about Justice.  They ooze.  They make my eyes feel sticky when I’m done reading them.

Criminal defense lawyers have a strong innate sense of justice, a desire for fairness and zeal for fighting for the underdog.  It’s our passion.  But it’s not our job.  Our job is to serve our clients, and that often bears no relation to justice.  With all this emotion, writers wrapping themselves up in their feelings about right and wrong, good and evil, fair and unfair, it appears that they may either forget what they do or begin to believe their own press.  No one owns the side of good.  The prosecutors who believe that they sit at God’s right hand are just as foolish as defense lawyers who believe the same.

Unless you happen to be on the bonus list at Goldman Sachs, you are not likely to feel particularly sympathetic toward Blalack’s advice, at least in this instance.  There may be no enterprise more evil than Goldman, at least today.  Never underestimate the ability of a financial services corporation to come up with something even more evil tomorrow.  Certainly, no criminal defense lawyer feels great love for Goldman, unless they are on the payroll through the good fortune of indemnification. 

But Blalack’s advice is effective and undeniably sound.  That’s what a good lawyer gives his client, even if it stinks to high heaven.  Nothing unlawful or unethical, but effective.  Emotional rants are the stuff of childish self-indulgence and blind faith.  That’s fine when it doesn’t count, but it’s worthless when a client seeks advice.  Lawyers serve their clients and leave their emotions at home.