Madoff’s Lawyer Has ‘Large Personality’ and ‘Residual Toughness’

Ira Lee Sorkin has an unpopular job representing the even more unpopular Bernard Madoff, accused of running a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.

Sorkin, who co-chairs the securities enforcement and white-collar defense group of Dickstein Shapiro, has received one death threat that he reported to the FBI and about a dozen anti-Semitic e-mails, the New York Law Journal reports.

The 65-year-old former federal prosecutor once oversaw the New York office of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Now on the defense side, he has managed to keep Madoff free on bail at the same time he is representing 15 other clients who are targets of SEC or criminal investigations, the story says.

Other lawyers describe Sorkin “as an outsized personality who is effective because he is so likeable,” according to the story. Robert Morvillo, of Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Silberberg, told the publication that Sorkin also has "the residual toughness necessary in a criminal defense lawyer.”

David Brodsky of Latham & Watkins, who had worked with Sorkin as a prosecutor, told the New York Law Journal Sorkin has a "very large personality—he doesn't just greet you with a handshake, but a hug."

Sorkin told the publication that he tried many more cases as a prosecutor than as a defense lawyer; in his last eight years in private practice he tried only six cases.

Many observers expect a deal in the Madoff case, according to the story, although the plea is likely to include a substantial prison sentence. Speaking generally, Sorkin said trials involve more risks, and are likely to result in a stiffer sentence for clients if there is a conviction.

But the decision on whether to accept a plea, he said, is up to the client.