Fast-forward to the present, and the Bernhofts now own two homes, in Wisconsin and California. Bernhoft has twice represented actor Wesley Snipes, and former presidential candidate and consumer advocate Ralph Nader, in addition to successfully trying several other high-profile cases across the nation. He’s been interviewed by Greta Van Susteren on Fox News’ On the Record, as well as spotlighted by The Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal.
Representing the celebrity client can be “career-making or career-breaking,” says Bernhoft. Fortunately for him, it’s been the former, but it could’ve just as easily gone the other way. In Snipes’ 2008 felony tax fraud and conspiracy trial, for example, he and his team opted not to call any witnesses — a move that generated much criticism from the national media legal pundits. It was a “penthouse or an outhouse” situation, recalls Bernhoft, but the strategy proved successful when Snipes was acquitted of all the felony charges pending against him in a Florida federal court.
When you’re representing a celebrity, your job performance is indeed subject to heightened media and public scrutiny, agrees Milwaukee’s Jonathan C. Smith. “But the spotlight fades pretty quickly,” Smith says, “and in the end you just do the job for the client that you were hired to do.”
Smith was part of the team representing former Green Bay Packers tight end Mark Chmura. Chmura faced, and ultimately was acquitted of, child enticement and third-degree sexual assault charges. Smith also represented former professional basketball player Latrell Sprewell when he was the subject of a widely-publicized assault allegation, for which charges were never issued.
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