March 16, 07

NEWS / Judge Is Not Amused by Conrad Black? Lawyer

An article in The New York Times chronicling the pageantry of the upcoming fraud trial of Conrad Black, the former head of the Hollinger media empire, put Mr. Black??™s Canadian lawyer in a sticky situation Wednesday. The Guardian notes that Mr. Black??™s attorney, Edward Greenspan was hauled over the coals for making tongue-in-cheek remarks about his treatment as a foreigner in America??™s legal system.

In front of a packed courtroom Wednesday, Judge Amy J. St. Eve berated Mr. Greenspan for making ???patently wrong??? comments about a special waiver giving him the right to practice in Chicago??™s federal court.

She apparently took exception to an interview with The New York Times??™ Richard Siklos in which Mr. Greenspan said: ???I love that I??™ve been officially certified as stupid by the Illinois judge.???

Mr. Greenspan, nicknamed ???Fast Eddie,??? told The Times that he intends to frame the document and hang it in his Toronto office. He quipped that he was ???so stupid??? that ???no matter how incompetent I may be, Conrad can??™t rely on it??? as an excuse.

Judge St. Eve told him: ???You have reportedly made a statement that I??™ve certified you as stupid. I don??™t know if you made that statement but it is patently wrong.???

???If you were stupid, you wouldn??™t be here. To the extent that you were under that impression, you were patently wrong.???

Mr Greenspan told the judge that the paper??™s quote was accurate, but that he was only joking around.

???I happen to have a sense of humor,??? he said. ???I in no way intended to insult the court. I apologize if you thought that I meant it, or if you felt upset by it. I meant it purely with a sense of humor.???

(Mr. Greenspan made another little commotion Thursday, according to The New York Post: He briefly nodded off, prompting both his daughter and his partner, Ed Genson, to give him a little nudge.)

The trial of Mr. Black, himself a larger-than-life chracter, has taken on shades of the theatrical, with expected witnesses to include Donald Trump and Henry Kissinger.

On Thursday, a jury was selected and jurors were instructed to return Monday for opening statements. Of the 20 people chosen after two days of questioning, 18 will be seated ??” 12 jurors and 6 alternates. Mr. Black said little as he entered an elevator after leaving court. ???When we have a verdict, I??™ll have a comment,??? Mr. Black said.

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