Legal News

Sunday Night on HBO: Lawyers, Lawyers, Lawyers! (and Katherine Harris)

By Dan Slater

On Sunday night, HBO will reprise and fictionalize the 2000 election fiasco with its film, “Recount,” starring Kevin Spacey (pictured, right), Denis Leary (pictured, left), Tom Wilkinson, Laura Dern, and Ed Begley Jr. as David Boies. According to this recent NYT piece, former Gore advisers say the film unfairly blames them for the Democrats’ failure to secure the White House. But what we’ve discovered here at the Law Blog is that some of the real-life lawyers portrayed in the film are unhappy with their portrayals, and some aren’t. A quick round-up of responses:

Ron Klain (played by Kevin Spacey, pictured with Dennis Leary, who plays Michael Whouley, a Gore strategist): Klain, the Gore lawyer who led the on-the-ground recount effort, reportedly enjoys a preponderance of screen time in “Recount.” (Click here for a LB Q&A with Klain from early last year.) Klain, who’s seen the movie three times already, told the BLT blog, “[Spacey’s] a great actor. It’s a little surreal.”

Warren Christopher (played by John Hurt): The former secretary of state and current O’Melveny & Myers partner who served as the public face of the Gore team in the early days of the recount effort, Christopher told the Times that the film was “pure fiction” in its portrayal of him as a weak strategist unprepared to stand up to the aggressive tactics of James A. Baker III, the former secretary of state (and current Baker Botts partner) who was the chief Republican adviser.

James A. Baker III (played by Tom Wilkinson): “I don’t think I was as ruthless as the movie portrays me,” Baker told the Times, “and I know [Warren Christopher] was not as wimpish as it makes him appear.”

Katherine Harris (played by Laura Dern): According to Joseph Klock, the Epstein Becker lawyer who represented Harris, then the Florida Secretary of State, before the U.S. Supreme Court in Bush v Gore, Harris (not a lawyer, sadly) continues to be unfairly portrayed in the media. In an email from Klock’s PR rep, Harris continues to be portrayed as “misplaced socialite and power monger.” Klock, according to the email, believes that if Harris “had been a man, she would never have been subjected to the ridicule she received as the cartoonish ‘air head’ with no credentials, substance or ability to think on her own.”

As for Laura Dern’s portrayal of Harris — putting aside the fact-fiction debate — Klain, the one who’s seen “Recount” three times, told the BLT blog: “If I were allowed to pass out Emmys, [Dern] definitely would get one.”

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on May 23, 2008 (boomark / email).