Bruce Lehr is the founding partner of Lehr, Levi and Mendez, P.A. and has more than 40 years of experience as a criminal defense attorney. Mr. Lehr has tried more than 360 jury trials in state and federal courts. Even during the pandemic, he continued to try cases in both the federal and state courts.
Photo Credit: Bruce Lehr | Haute Media Group
Mr. Lehr recently spoke to Haute Media Group co-founder and COO, Seth Semilof, about his first big case as a criminal defense attorney, his keys to success and many other interesting topics. Here are some of the highlights of their conversation:
Seth Semilof: What led you to begin working under Janet Reno after college?
Bruce Lehr: Frankly, I found that criminal law was the only kind of interesting law. I’ve practiced criminal defense (on both sides) for over 40 years, and I’ve never been bored a single day.
SS: Tell us what it was like to secure your first big case after opening your own firm.
BL: I actually secured my first case before ever leaving my role as a prosecutor. My last day on the job was a Friday, and that very day, Judge Ellen Morphonios gave me a call. She had previously written a book called, Lady Law, she was a hanging judge down here. I picked up her call and she said, ‘Bruce, I need you in my courtroom Monday, first thing, nine o’clock.’ I thanked but told her I’m no longer prosecuting. She replied, ‘no, you don’t understand. I’m appointing you to a case.’ I asked what kind of case. She replied, ‘first degree murder.’
I reminded her that I had never defended anyone of anything, let alone murder. ‘Bruce, I am ordering you to be in my courtroom, nine o’clock, Monday morning. I’m going to make your career.’
I guess she liked me as a prosecutor and decided she was going to ‘make my career.’ I didn’t sleep much that weekend. I started the case by saying, ‘good morning your honor, Bruce Lehr on behalf of the state.’ She gave me a dirty look and said, ‘no, it’s Bruce Lehr on behalf of the defense. And so it went…
SS: To what do you credit the longevity and success of your career?
BL: There are three kinds of criminal defense lawyers. The first is professorial. These will usually wear a bow tie, which says a lot already. They go into the courtroom and they lecture. They tend to talk down to the jury, and jurors tend to not like that. The professorial type of criminal defense lawyer does not have much success.
Next is what I call, the ‘scorched earth lawyer.’ Every word out of his/her mouth is putting down the prosecutor, putting down the system, ‘everything is wrong,’ their client is the only positive thing in the courtroom. That rarely works.
I like to call my approach, ‘the guy in the diner.’ I sit down with the jury as if I was sitting next to somebody in a diner. ‘Let me tell you about this case I have.’ I don’t lecture them, I don’t get emotional, I just tell them about the case in between breaks from my tuna fish sandwich. That is the style of lawyering that has done me well all these years.
For the entire conversation, watch the video below:
