Latham & Watkins lawyer appears in new HBO comedy series and says experience was 'pretty good'
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Andrew Clubok, the global chair of Latham & Watkins’ securities and mergers and acquisitions litigation practice, believes in stepping out of his comfort zone. He tells lawyers just starting their careers to “be curious, be prepared and seek out opportunities that stretch you.”
Clubok, who represents companies, boards, executives and other clients in complex, high-stakes investigations and litigation, recently followed his advice by acting alongside comedian and writer Larry David and actor and comedian Michael McKean in David’s latest HBO series, Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness: An Almost History of America.
Clubok plays U.S. Sen. Charles E. Potter of Michigan, a World War II hero who lost his legs, in a satirical recreation of the 1954 Army-McCarthy hearings. David depicts an unhinged Joseph McCarthy criticizing everyone around him, including Potter. McKean plays Joseph Welch, the chief counsel for the U.S. Army who famously rebuked McCarthy with, “Have you no sense of decency, sir?”
The segment runs in the show’s third episode, which airs on HBO.
The entire experience, Clubok quips, was “pretty, pretty, pretty good,” referencing one of David’s famous lines.
“The obvious highlight was getting to see firsthand how true experts in their field approach comedy and storytelling,” he says.
The entire script for the scene was about half a page, and most of the lines were improvised, Clubok says. The shooting took one day.
Clubok ended up in the role because, he says, he’s friends with the lead writer, whose wife suggested that Clubok get a role in David’s show. He has also represented David and worked as a legal adviser for the last season of David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm HBO series, which featured a multiepisode circus-atmosphere trial.
If “you squint a few seconds before the end of the credits on the final episode” and are very quick with freeze frame, “you can see my credit,” he says.
Clubok—who divides his time between Latham & Watkins’ Washington, D.C., and New York offices—admits that he had no prior acting experience “whatsoever,” but he was game to participate.
His performance is mostly deadpan, with a focus on refuting David’s more preposterous accusations.
“Quite frankly, I thought I was simply going to be an extra,” Clubok says. “Fortunately, there were actual professionals on set to make sure I didn’t embarrass myself too badly, and it also turns out that good directors can cover up a lot.”
A partner at Latham & Watkins, Clubok has more than 30 years of legal experience and has clients including General Motors, Meta, American Airlines and Amazon. He says a litigation background helped him with his performance as Potter “particularly given the improvisational format.”
“Of course, in litigation, if things go too far off script, you don’t usually get a friendly judge to say, ‘Cut! Let’s try that again! This time, be funnier,’” Clubok says. “On the other hand, just like in litigation, you often come up with your very best lines as you’re driving home after the argument or the shoot.”
As for future acting plans, Clubok says he’s “very happy being a lawyer.”
“But after this experience, I’ve learned never to say never,” he says.
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