Legal Commentary

Apprentice Contestant Quits Job as Brooklyn Prosecutor

By Jeralyn

Mahsa Saeidi-Azcuy, the bullying prosecutor on this season's Apprentice, has quit her job after being moved to a non-courtroom position.

Most of the articles I've read say she was forced out. Why? Saeidi-Azcuy, who has had her law degree for a year, who portrayed herself as a justice-seeker, and who the show portrayed as a tough-as-nails tour-de-force in the courtroom, never told the DA's office why she sought a two month leave of absence, that she intended to appear on the show, seeking a job working for Trump. Had they known, they wouldn't have granted her request.

Even Ivanka Trump noticed her negative personality: [More..]

Ivanka Trump, Mr. Trump's daughter and one of the show's co-hosts, later said, "Mahsa was brutal. I mean, [she was] just so excited to speak and to yell. I was shocked. She's so unprofessional -- her voice, her yelling … I think Mahsa has a terrible attitude."

As I wrote here:

I'm not sure I can stand much more of Mahsa on the Apprentice. She is as grating as Omarosa, without the attributes. She's billed as a tough prosecutor who is likely to bring her courtroom skills and passion for justice to the show. Please. She got her law degree in 2009. So right after getting hired by the DA's office in Brooklyn, she takes a leave to be on the Apprentice? What she's done so far is make internet videos for the DA's office. She's looking for a media career, not a justice career, and law school was just a way she thought she could improve her communication skills.

Where'd I get that her goal was something other than law and justice? From this interview she gave to an Iranian paper, right before the show began airing:

I decided I needed better communication skills so I went to law school.

And:

If you indeed become the Apprentice, where in Mr. Trump's organization do you see yourself? What would be your dream job?

Well there are so many opportunities but one thing that would be kind of a natural fit for me would be the Miss Universe competition. I grew up in my mom's hair salon as a kid, I was surrounded by beauty. I have a beauty secrets group on Facebook. .... But I also know that Mr. Trump is opening a hotel in Dubai, and being Iranian, speaking Farsi, even my broken down version of Farsi, and being familiar with the Middle-East, I think that would be a good fit as well.

She's been practicing a year and had just started trying misdemeanors before going on the show. Before that, she was a student prosecutor at the Kings County D. A.’s Office and an intern at the Staten Island D. A.’s Office and MSNBC.

She portrayed her husband as a "pro-bono" lawyer and said she was the sole breadwinner for her family. Her father is a successful real estate exec in Virginia, her husband worked for a workman's comp personal injury law firm in Queens which does not appear to be a bono firm and they've only been married 3 years or less. (It doesn't appear that he's still with the firm despite his Linked in profile which hasn't been updated.)

I have no doubt Mahsa will embark on a lucrative media career. She's feisty and a lightening rod which is great for ratings. But to cast her as a tough or experienced or accomplished prosecutor, or as impassioned about justice is a joke. She's about launching a media career, earning money and self-promotion. What a surprise.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on October 02, 2010 (boomark / email).