Brownstein: the Montreal filmmaker enters the world of lawyer Dershowitz

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“He would have represented Hitler,” says one of his many critics.

“He loves to pick cases that everyone hates,” notes another skeptic.

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They refer to American defense lawyer Alan Dershowitz, possibly the most famous/infamous lawyer of his generation and certainly one of the most confusing and controversial.

Once hailed as a brilliant and fierce litigator for taking on Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg, among other high-profile cases, and for defending pro bono cases for the depressed, Dershowitz later surprised many by advocating for the wealthy people like Claus von Bülow and Mike Tyson. He surprised many more by helping represent OJ Simpson in one of the most divisive and widely watched murder trials of the last half century.

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He also did himself no favors by defending Jeffrey Epstein. And her reputation was further tarnished when Virginia Giuffre initially accused Dershowitz of having sexual relations with her when he was underage. Giuffre, Prince Andrew’s main accuser, later dropped her lawsuit against Dershowitz, saying she may have been wrong to accuse him. She denied ever knowing her, much less having had sexual relations with her.

But Dershowitz was truly going to be vilified in many circles, even among his closest friends, for taking on one of the impeachment cases against Donald Trump even though he did not vote for him.

Montreal filmmaker John Curtin spent 10 years following Dershowitz’s life and complex career. He emerged with more than 2,000 hours of interview material and clips with Dershowitz, as well as defense attorneys Gloria Allred and Ron Kuby, boxer/client Tyson, TV personality Megyn Kelly and even the curmudgeonly/creator of Seinfeld/Curb Your Enthusiasm, Larry David.

The resulting documentary, The Trials of Alan Dershowitz, is forthcoming. No one holds back on Curtin here, not Dershowitz or everyone else he has interviewed. The documentary will certainly surprise, but also captivate audiences in light of the who’s who of clients Dershowitz has represented.

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The film will premiere in Canada on April 25 as part of the Blue Metropolis festival, at the DeSève cinema in downtown Concordia.

Dershowitz does not attempt to defend himself in the documentary. Showing no remorse for handling some controversial cases, he simply seeks to explain his choices.

Curtin includes a selection of clips in which Dershowitz calls himself “a defender of the damned.” … I enjoy taking on cases where people say they are the worst people in the world.”

Rather than thriving, he seems to revel in it. “My job as a defense attorney is not to see that justice is done,” he says. “My role is to confront the most unpopular and even the most guilty clients.” He compares his job to that of an emergency room doctor who cares for a patient regardless of who they are.

Dershowitz, now 85, also isn’t worried about how the public perceives him. “People write to me all the time and he says, ‘I used to admire you, but now I despise you.’ And I always have the same answer: ‘You were wrong to admire me. You didn’t know who I was.’”

This is not to say that Dershowitz believed that all of his clients were innocent, only that they deserved a defense. He didn’t like everyone either. In fact, he confesses that he wishes someone “would get hit by a bus.”

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Many friends had managed to support Dershowitz, no matter how despicable they found some of his clients. But they put limits on Trump. Kuby, Dershowitz’s lawyer friend, was surprised: “Donald Trump? “This is not what you used to be.” And his old friend David, who once gushed about his love for fellow “polarizer” Dershowitz, simply stopped talking to him after Trump.

Dershowitz soon found himself in the unique position of being hated by both the far left and the far right. Regardless, he remains the lawyer the rich, and often egregious, turn to to try to get out of trouble.

Curtin notes that Dershowitz continues to outrage people: in an interview with Forward, an American media company with a largely Jewish-American audience, he said he would defend Yahya Sinwar, a Hamas leader, for free if he turned himself in to Israeli authorities.

So what prompted Curtin to delve into Dershowitz’s world?

“Whether you love him or hate him, his career is very vast. “It’s like Woody Allen’s Zelig figure, appearing at every key legal moment,” Curtin says. “He was taken to Montebello to consult with Pierre Trudeau in 1970 about the War Measures Act. He just seems to always be there.”

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Curtin first interviewed Dershowitz a decade ago for his documentary Why Jews?, a compelling investigation into what drives so many Jews to better themselves on so many fronts and what the consequences have been. He was still intrigued by Dershowitz, who gave him carte blanche to make this documentary.

As was the case with Why the Jews?, The Trials of Alan Dershowitz, Curtin’s 23rd documentary, is quite a departure for him. The former CBC employee had spent much of his film career focusing on the British Royal Family: Royals & Animals; Serving royalty; After Elizabeth II: The monarchy in danger? and Chasing Royalty: The Media and the Monarchy.

Dershowitz represented a “different challenge.”

Curtin followed him through the Epstein years and his exoneration in the Giuffre lawsuit: “I could feel that really weighing on him. That was just a wild accusation, but people wanted to believe it. They despised him for something he never did. He could live with people who didn’t like orange juice, but this was different.”

Dershowitz reveals that he never expected his career to be defined by Giuffre and Trump, as it appears to be now.

“People took Trump’s involvement incredibly badly,” Curtin says. “It really discouraged people. Dershowitz likes to be provocative, but he also believes in getting the best possible deal for his client, whether innocent or guilty.

“Of course, he has a big ego. Of course, she likes fame. But he doesn’t do this for that reason. He really believes in his principles and he believes that he will defend them at all costs.”

TAKE A LOOK

The Alan Dershowitz Trials screens Thursday, April 25 at 7 pm at the DeSève Cinema in downtown Concordia in conjunction with the Blue Metropolis festival. For more information visit bluemetropolis.org or call 438-304-9917.

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