Our justice system is premised on the notion that even the most awful human beings accused of the most heinous crimes are entitled to a legal defense.

Derek Chauvin seems to be pushing the limit.

The now-fired Minneapolis police officer has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd—a crime that has set America aflame. And some poor lawyer will have to defend him.

How unappealing is the assignment? Here's one measure. I reached out on Monday to white collar defenders and former prosecutors at Kirkland & Ellis; Hogan Lovells; Latham & Watkins; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher; O'Melveny & Myers; Mayer Brown; Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe; Boies Schiller Flexner; Morgan, Lewis & Bockius; Jenner & Block; King & Spalding; Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan; Kasowitz Benson Torres; Sullivan & Cromwell; Sidley Austin; Covington & Burling and Steptoe & Johnson. I also hit up PR agencies that work with multiple law firms, and asked them all the same thing: What in theory might Chauvin's defense entail?

Jenna Greene"I'm looking for any general thoughts on how his lawyer might proceed. How do you make sure a client gets a fair trial when they are so widely despised? How could you pick a jury? What personal risks might a defense lawyer face in taking on such a case? Is it worth it?" I asked.

And across the board, these elite firms, which together employ more than 22,000 of the best lawyers in the country, which pride themselves on their independence and toughness, their willingness to tackle difficult problems? 

They all declined comment or didn't respond. Every single one of them.

In two decades of legal reporting I've never encountered such reticence—not with such a broad question posed to so many lawyers at so many firms. 

Of course, I understand there's no marketing advantage to being quoted on this topic. It's not like being asked to opine on a Supreme Court decision that could directly impact your clients, or weighing in on new developments in ERISA.

But c'mon. I do think it's valid to wonder how in the world Chauvin's defense lawyer, whoever that may be, might proceed. The fact that none of you would touch it is a sign that representing him will be uniquely difficult.

Non-lawyers might say, 'Good. Chauvin doesn't deserve a fair trial. He wasn't fair when he kept his knee on George Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes, ignoring his pleas that he couldn't breathe."

Which is true. But we all also know that's not how our system works—and in fact, it's why our system is just. Even if it means monsters get lawyers.

A few years ago, I spent several hours interviewing a now-retired public defender named Barry Collins for a book project that never came to fruition. 

Collins defended Richard Allen Davis, who in 1993 spied a 12-year-old girl named Polly Klaas buying popsicles at a store in Petaluma, California. He followed her home, lay in wait, and then kidnapped her from her bedroom in the middle of the night as Polly's two friends, who were sleeping over, looked on in horror.

The case was huge news at the time. When Davis was arrested eight weeks later, he confessed to strangling Polly to death and dumping her body in a blackberry briar. 

Collins got the job of defending him—it didn't go well, Davis got the death penalty—but the lawyer's thoughts on the experience may resonate with whoever defends Chauvin.

"If you're a true public defender, what is the ultimate task you can get in your career? Representing someone like Richard Allen Davis. It's a whole different world, one that even other public defenders can't relate to," Collins told me. 

"I have an analogy," he continued. It's like being a doctor in a war zone treating wounded combatants. "You're not supposed to worry if the guy is an enemy private or a general on the U.S. side … You do the job the same way. In a way, that's what being a public defender is all about," he said. "When you handle a high-profile case for a terrible crime, you have to have a certain kind of DNA. You have to be able to do it without regard for what other people think."

Whoever defends Chauvin is sure to be threatened and vilified. But that lawyer will also be brave—braver (ahem) than certain Am Law 100 firms.