March 28-April 3, 2002

loose canon

A Moral Lawyer

by Bruce Schimmel

A moral lawyer is one, I suppose, that you might wish on your adversary -- being that a principled attorney is often seen as an impediment to success.

Not so for Sam Klein, who successfully defended City Paper against a long line of adversaries stretching back two decades. Sam died suddenly this week, and as tributes attest, his personal brand of moral lawyering will be missed by loyal clients and respectful opposition alike.

Sam Klein was a defense lawyer for the very big and the very small, defending sprawling media conglomerates, big tobacco companies and me.

Cherubic and shy in social settings, Sam represented City Paper with passion and with compassion for the turmoil that being a defendant brings. Himself a diminutive guy, he was a friend to the little schlepper burdened with the big problem -- as I was when I first called him 20 years ago.

At the time, City Paper had one full-time employee and operated out of a former drugstore in Germantown.

I had just received a scalding call from a (still) powerful lawyer, who was upset by a story about campaign contributions.

The lawyer's name had been mentioned in the middle of a long list, preceded by a short adjective that he found offensive, and which I thought was merely descriptive. And true.

True or not, this guy was a crocodile and I was to be his snack.

I hung up the phone, frozen with fear. On a desperate whim, I called Sam Klein. Within an hour, one of the best in the business was sitting on a folding chair beside me in my little shop, and I no longer felt alone.

Without going into the details of the case, I can say that we lost the battle but won the war. But what I learned from Sam was that big or little, you can always find the courage and get the strength if you do what's fair and say what's true.

Sam could bushwhack a straight and narrow path through a maze of deceit to serve his client and to find justice. He always did well by us.

As a lawyer, he played hard, he played clean and was fair. By example, he taught me, as a journalist, to do the same. From him, I learned to survive by telling the truth.

Widely respected, unmatched in his knowledge, a lovely human being -- to these words of praise, let me add mine:

Sam Klein was a friend when you were down, a moral man who showed that a true victory is a victory for truth.

Part of Sam's legacy is the City Paper you now hold in your hands, as we hold him dearly in our hearts.

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