As I read the opinion, I thought how nice it must be, on at least some level(s), to be a defense lawyer in a fraud case in which you're defending an incredibly wealthy person facing substantial prison time. Especially if they're fairly clearly guilty. (The two defendants here were sentenced to over a decade in prison plus a $452 million restitution order.)
At least hypothetically, the fee conversation might well come down to something like this:
Lawyer: "I'm going to charge a ton. Millions. Tens of millions. But what do you care? You're likely losing all your money anyway in a massive restitution order, plus whatever civil fraud judgments someone feels like obtaining against you. You might as well give the money to me rather than to the government or your creditors. At least that way you have a shot -- even if it's only a tiny one -- of getting off.
Client: Okay.
