Mickey Sherman
Encyclopedia
Michael "Mickey" Sherman, a criminal-defense attorney who has represented some famous clients, often appeared as a legal analyst on cable television talk shows. In June 2010, Sherman plead guilty for failing to pay more than $1.1 million in federal taxes.
The Greenwich
, Connecticut
native, who has offices in Stamford, Connecticut
, represented Michael Skakel
in his murder trial. After Skakel was found guilty, some members of Skakel's family blamed Sherman for losing the case and as a result, Mr. Sherman is not part of the pending Skakel appeal.
He has frequently appeared as a commentator on MSNBC
, CNBC
, Court TV
, Fox News, and CNN
, and has been employed as a legal analyst on CBS News, appearing on the CBS Early Show and CBS Evening News
.
, Sherman received his bachelor's degree from the University of Connecticut
and, in 1971, his Juris Doctor
(J.D.) degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law
. In May 2005, Sherman was disinvited from speaking at Greenwich High School's commencement due to public outcry from many parents. Mr. Sherman served as an assistant public Defender in Stamford Superior Court and later as an assistant prosecutor, a post he held for four years.
His courtroom and trial tactics have been the subject of feature articles in the New York Times, the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, and New York Newsday
. In 1986, the New York Times questioned whether he hurt the jury system by hiring a juror from a deadlocked rape jury to sit through the defendant's retrial as a consultant. After the second trial, the Connecticut Legislature passed a statute outlawing the tactic.
Sherman successfully defended a Vietnam veteran in a murder trial using the post-traumatic stress disorder defense. That became the subject of half-hour productions on CBS’s Verdict, NBC’s Dateline and the BBC series, America on Trial.
"I was hired to try to put these fires out and defend him. It was an absolutely fair fee, and I'm confident that will come out," Sherman told The Courant "I'm confident this will resolve itself in a very favorable manner." Sherman said he worked on Yalincak's complex cases for more than a year and earned the money. In 2007, Sherman's former client filed a lawsuit in federal court which Sherman later settled in May 2008.
In 2006, Sherman paid Yalincak a $50,000 refund during the grievance process, and the former client tried to drop his charges, but the agency wouldn't allow it. The panel then started investigating whether or not Sherman had acted improperly by making a payment to someone who brought accusations against him to the state agency. Sherman said the payment had nothing to do with the complaint to the agency but was made in exchange for Yalincak's agreement not to file a lawsuit against him. In September 2006, a regional panel of the Statewide Grievance Committee issued a finding of probable cause against Sherman. In May 2007, Sherman agreed that he violated two rules of professional conduct and was reprimanded by the Statewide Grievance Committee.
On June 30, 2010, Sherman pled guilty two counts of willfully failing to pay federal income taxes for tax years 2001 and 2002, in the amount of $390,000 in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut. As of the date of his plea, Sherman still owes penalties and interest for those years in the approximate amount of $309,000. Sherman also owes back taxes in the approximate amount of $697,500, and approximately $144,000 in penalties and interest, for the 2004 through 2008 tax years. He was sentenced on December 22, 2010 to one year and one day in prison. He will report to prison on March 16, 2011.
Sherman's former law firm partner, Joseph Richichi also pled guilty to similar charges of tax evasion for failing to pay taxes on approximately $3.1 million on April 5, 2007 and was sentenced on December 19, 2007 to sixteen month imprisonment.
It is unclear whether Sherman will be permitted to practice law ever again after his June 30, 2010 criminal conviction.
. Numerous celebrities were present at their marriage on June 23, 2006 at a Greenwich restaurant: singer Michael Bolton
, Bolton's fiance, Nicollette Sheridan
, Court TV founder Steven Brill
, legal analysts Rikki Klieman and Catherine Crier
, Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton, television host and journalist Dan Abrams
, CBS journalist Hannah Storm
, NBC Sports anchor Dan Hicks
, actor Christopher Wiehl
, film producer and director Barry Levinson
, Fox News personality Geraldo Rivera
, Fox News personality E.D. Hill, state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal
, filmmaker Tomaczek Bednarek, Fox News legal analyst Jonna Spilbor, and John Dearden. Judge Judy
Sheinlin showed up after the ceremony.
Sherman has an adult son and an adult daughter from a previous marriage. Wiehl, about 14 years younger than Sherman, has a daughter and a son from a previous marriage.
In Barry Levinson's 2006 film Man of the Year Sherman appears as a "talking head
lawyer".
The Greenwich
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
native, who has offices in Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 122,643, making it the fourth largest city in the state and the eighth largest city in New England...
, represented Michael Skakel
Michael Skakel
Michael C. Skakel was convicted in 2002 of the 1975 murder of Martha Moxley, his 15-year-old neighbor in Greenwich, Connecticut. He was sentenced to 20 years to life and remains incarcerated. Skakel is the nephew of Ethel Skakel Kennedy, the widow of Senator Robert F...
in his murder trial. After Skakel was found guilty, some members of Skakel's family blamed Sherman for losing the case and as a result, Mr. Sherman is not part of the pending Skakel appeal.
He has frequently appeared as a commentator on MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
, CNBC
CNBC
CNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBCUniversal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers...
, Court TV
Court TV
truTV is an American cable television network owned by Turner Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Time Warner. The network launched as Court TV in 1991, changing to truTV in 2008...
, Fox News, and CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, and has been employed as a legal analyst on CBS News, appearing on the CBS Early Show and CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News is the flagship nightly television news program of the American television network CBS. The network has broadcast this program since 1948, and has used the CBS Evening News title since 1963....
.
Life and career
A graduate of Greenwich High SchoolGreenwich High School
Greenwich High School is a four-year public high school in Greenwich, Connecticut, United States. The school is part of the Greenwich Public Schools system and serves roughly 2,700 students....
, Sherman received his bachelor's degree from the University of Connecticut
University of Connecticut
The admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...
and, in 1971, his Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
(J.D.) degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law
University of Connecticut School of Law
The University of Connecticut School of Law is the only public law school in Connecticut and one of only four in New England. The school was recently ranked forty-sixth out of the 190 American Bar Association-accredited law schools in the United States and is considered a Tier 1 school by U.S...
. In May 2005, Sherman was disinvited from speaking at Greenwich High School's commencement due to public outcry from many parents. Mr. Sherman served as an assistant public Defender in Stamford Superior Court and later as an assistant prosecutor, a post he held for four years.
His courtroom and trial tactics have been the subject of feature articles in the New York Times, the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, and New York Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
. In 1986, the New York Times questioned whether he hurt the jury system by hiring a juror from a deadlocked rape jury to sit through the defendant's retrial as a consultant. After the second trial, the Connecticut Legislature passed a statute outlawing the tactic.
Sherman successfully defended a Vietnam veteran in a murder trial using the post-traumatic stress disorder defense. That became the subject of half-hour productions on CBS’s Verdict, NBC’s Dateline and the BBC series, America on Trial.
Investigations into billing, criminal conviction for failing to pay taxes and accusations of misconduct
On January 5, 2007, the Hartford Courant reported that Sherman was under investigation by a panel of the Statewide Grievance Committee, a state agency which disciplines lawyers, concerning an accusation that he violated several rules of professional conduct, including charging the client $187,000 without providing a fee agreement or an hourly billing statement. A former client, Hakan Yalincak, complained to the agency in March 2006 that Sherman, his attorney, had billed him but had provided little documentation to show where the money went."I was hired to try to put these fires out and defend him. It was an absolutely fair fee, and I'm confident that will come out," Sherman told The Courant "I'm confident this will resolve itself in a very favorable manner." Sherman said he worked on Yalincak's complex cases for more than a year and earned the money. In 2007, Sherman's former client filed a lawsuit in federal court which Sherman later settled in May 2008.
In 2006, Sherman paid Yalincak a $50,000 refund during the grievance process, and the former client tried to drop his charges, but the agency wouldn't allow it. The panel then started investigating whether or not Sherman had acted improperly by making a payment to someone who brought accusations against him to the state agency. Sherman said the payment had nothing to do with the complaint to the agency but was made in exchange for Yalincak's agreement not to file a lawsuit against him. In September 2006, a regional panel of the Statewide Grievance Committee issued a finding of probable cause against Sherman. In May 2007, Sherman agreed that he violated two rules of professional conduct and was reprimanded by the Statewide Grievance Committee.
On June 30, 2010, Sherman pled guilty two counts of willfully failing to pay federal income taxes for tax years 2001 and 2002, in the amount of $390,000 in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut. As of the date of his plea, Sherman still owes penalties and interest for those years in the approximate amount of $309,000. Sherman also owes back taxes in the approximate amount of $697,500, and approximately $144,000 in penalties and interest, for the 2004 through 2008 tax years. He was sentenced on December 22, 2010 to one year and one day in prison. He will report to prison on March 16, 2011.
Sherman's former law firm partner, Joseph Richichi also pled guilty to similar charges of tax evasion for failing to pay taxes on approximately $3.1 million on April 5, 2007 and was sentenced on December 19, 2007 to sixteen month imprisonment.
It is unclear whether Sherman will be permitted to practice law ever again after his June 30, 2010 criminal conviction.
Celebrity
Sherman is married to Fox News legal analyst and author Lis WiehlLis Wiehl
Lis Wiehl is an American author and legal analyst for Fox News.She is an adjunct professor of law at New York Law School, and formerly was an associate professor at University of Washington Law School. She formerly offered legal commentary for National Public Radio program and on Bill O'Reilly's...
. Numerous celebrities were present at their marriage on June 23, 2006 at a Greenwich restaurant: singer Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, both on his early solo albums and those recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack...
, Bolton's fiance, Nicollette Sheridan
Nicollette Sheridan
Nicollette Sheridan is an English film and television actress. She is best known for her roles as Edie Britt on Desperate Housewives and as Paige Matheson on Knots Landing.-Early life:...
, Court TV founder Steven Brill
Steven Brill (law writer)
Steven Brill is the founder of CourtTV and American Lawyer magazine. He also founded the failed Verified Identity Pass, Inc., the New York-based company that operated the Clear airport security fast-pass. The service abruptly shut down June 23, 2009, without any notice to the company's 260,000...
, legal analysts Rikki Klieman and Catherine Crier
Catherine Crier
Catherine Jean Crier is an American television personality and a former district court judge.-Life and career:Crier was born in Dallas, Texas in 1954 to William and Ann Crier and has two sisters. Crier graduated from Richardson High School and University of Texas at Austin, from which she earned...
, Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton, television host and journalist Dan Abrams
Dan Abrams
Dan Abrams is an American television host, legal commentator, web entrepreneur and best-selling author. He is currently Legal Analyst at ABC News Good Morning America , and a substitute anchor for the network. He formerly served as Chief Legal Analyst for NBC News, as General Manager of MSNBC and...
, CBS journalist Hannah Storm
Hannah Storm
Hannah Storm is an American television sports journalist, serving as co-anchor of ESPN's SportsCenter Monday–Thursday mornings, and is also host of the NBA Countdown pregame show on ABC as part of the network's NBA Sunday game coverage.-Early life and career:Storm was born in Oak Park, Illinois,...
, NBC Sports anchor Dan Hicks
Dan Hicks (sportscaster)
John Daniel "Dan" Hicks is an American sportscaster for NBC. His primary duties for the network include play-by-play commentary for golf, but he also does occasional play-by-play commentary for The AFL on NBC and Notre Dame football...
, actor Christopher Wiehl
Christopher Wiehl
-Life and career:Wiehl was born in Yakima, Washington. He graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Arts degree in dramatic arts. He is the brother of legal analyst Lis Wiehl....
, film producer and director Barry Levinson
Barry Levinson
Barry Levinson is an American screenwriter, film director, actor, and producer of film and television. His films include Good Morning, Vietnam, Sleepers and Rain Man.-Early life:...
, Fox News personality Geraldo Rivera
Geraldo Rivera
Geraldo Rivera is an American attorney, journalist, author, reporter, and former talk show host...
, Fox News personality E.D. Hill, state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal
Richard Blumenthal
Richard Blumenthal is the junior United States Senator from Connecticut and a member of the Democratic Party. Previously, he served as Attorney General of Connecticut....
, filmmaker Tomaczek Bednarek, Fox News legal analyst Jonna Spilbor, and John Dearden. Judge Judy
Judge Judy
Judge Judy is an American court show featuring former family court judge Judith Sheindlin arbitrating over small claims cases in small claims court...
Sheinlin showed up after the ceremony.
Sherman has an adult son and an adult daughter from a previous marriage. Wiehl, about 14 years younger than Sherman, has a daughter and a son from a previous marriage.
In Barry Levinson's 2006 film Man of the Year Sherman appears as a "talking head
Talking head
Talking head may refer to:Computers and internet*Computer facial animation, area of computer graphics that animates images of the human head and face*Interactive online charactersFilm and television*Talking Head , 1992 film by Mamoru Oshii...
lawyer".