Abbe David Lowell, Winston & Strawn

Tell us about your biggest trial win from January 2017 to July 2018 and how you achieved the result for your client.

The Sen. Bob Menendez case: (1) The DOJ devoted extraordinary resources to the case: three-year investigation, 105 interviews, 35-plus grand jury witnesses, 2-plus dozen DOJ attorneys and FBI agents, work in four countries and six or more states; three-month trial with 20-plus witnesses, four DOJ trial attorneys plus three agents and others; (2) the media reported that the trial judge made numerous rulings barring dozens of defense exhibits and two witnesses and adopted DOJ's jury instructions on key issues; (3) trial occurred among cases and growing antipathy against public officials; Menendez may be the only recent one that has not ended in a conviction.

1. Reinforce the government's burden and project a shorter, compact defense case (if any), by planning the entire defense case within the prosecution's witnesses and exhibits.
2. Apply Michelangelo's sculpture quote—“Chip away what is not the art”—create [the] defense theme early and “chip away” witnesses and documents not “the art” instead of going through discovery to find that theme.