Legal News

Is Akin Gump?s Tom Goldstein Television?s Next Big Thing?

By Ashby Jones

Akin Gump’s Tom Goldstein is one of the nation’s leading Supreme Court practitioners. He oversees the fantabulous Scotusblog. And he’s got this amazing DIY backstory that’s totally uncharacteristic for successful lawyers. (He also happens to be a helluva nice guy.)

But are he and his tale interesting enough to put on prime-time network television?

NBC apparently thinks so.

No joke.

Variety has reported that NBC is developing a show based on Goldstein’s early career, when he sat shoeless in his house pounding away on the Web, pitching his wares to parties involved in potential Supreme Court cases, and making a name for himself. (Hat tip: ABA Journal)

According to the article, the show’s working title is “Tommy Supreme.” Supposedly the show will be an "inverse House," depicting a likable guy in an unlikable profession. Writers are working on the pilot.

For those who haven’t heard of Goldstein, his story goes like this: He was a fourth-year lawyer at Boies, Schiller when he decided he wanted to pursue a Supreme Court practice. He quit the law firm and worked at home as he looked for cases likely to make it to the high court, volunteering to represent litigants for free. He made it work. Now Goldstein is an appellate litigator with Akin Gump who has argued 21 Supreme Court cases.

“It’s really weird,” Goldstein told us Friday afternoon. “But it is what it is. They’ve put an awfully lot of thought into this.” Goldstein says that in order to get the show off the ground, he had to sell his “life rights” to Sony Pictures Television. “I can’t go out and sell ‘Tom Goldstein’ action figures now,” he jokes.

And will he lobby to play himself, or any other characters, in the show? “Oh no,” he says. “I can’t even think about acting. I struggle enough in my current job.”

Get that, NBC writers? He’s humble, too.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on December 04, 2009 (boomark / email).