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Law360 (April 30, 2020, 12:40 PM EDT) --
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| Teny Geragos |
Today's perspective comes from New York-based trial attorney Teny Geragos, an associate at New York criminal defense firm Brafman & Associates PC.
What challenges has the pandemic created in your specific area of work?
As criminal defense lawyers who are used to being in the courtroom everyday and meeting frequently with clients, we have had to completely redefine our practice. The greatest challenge that we are currently facing is trying to prepare for sentencings for incarcerated defendants.
For example, the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn as of now is only allowing legal phone calls for a maximum of 30 minutes. This is inhibiting my client from effectively engaging in his own defense, as he is unable to review a draft sentencing memo, other filings or the sentencing letters supporters have submitted on his behalf.
We are also preparing for a September trial in the Eastern District of New York, which has already been delayed once because we have been unable to travel to Southeast Asia to conduct investigations necessary to defend our client. Though the time at home has been essential to review the millions of pages of discovery, the travel restrictions have created challenges in a case arising out of a global investigation.
How are you and your family adapting at home?
For me, it has been relatively easy to adapt to working from home. I found it necessary to establish a daily routine similar to what I had before the virus. That means exercising in the morning before heading down the hall to my home office. I have been utilizing Zoom with non-incarcerated clients, which has been a great replacement for in-office meetings.
I have also enjoyed cooking daily — my brother is a talented sous-chef in New York City and has unfortunately lost his job due to the restaurant closures. But now that he has more time, he has been gracious enough to give me cooking lessons via FaceTime. I have also tried to support small businesses and farmers by subscribing to weekly "produce boxes" filled with fresh fruits and vegetables.
What is the most creative or productive response to the crisis you've witnessed so far?
I am completely in awe of the diligent, dedicated criminal defense lawyers — Federal Defenders of New York, Criminal Justice Act panel attorneys, Legal Aid Society and private practitioners — who are working together to protect their incarcerated clients from contracting the virus in prison. Defense lawyers around the country are filing incredible briefs quickly to try to get their clients released.
Our firm has already been successful in releasing an at-risk client from the Metropolitan Detention Center. Since then, the entire firm has been working nonstop to file requests for compassionate release. It is wonderful to see that many at-risk inmates are being released from confinement in response to this crisis — thanks to the hard work of criminal defense lawyers who stop at nothing.
Update: This article has been updated to reflect new information from the Eastern District of New York mandating no more than 30 minutes for legal phone calls at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
The opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organization, its clients, or Portfolio Media Inc., or any of its or their respective affiliates. This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal advice.
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