| “ | I gotta think like he does, I gotta do as he does. I gotta become him. It's the only way I can go into a courtroom and fight for him with any passion at all. It's what makes this system work, Jack. A criminal defense lawyer who says to his client, 'I'll meet you, but only during office hours; I'll talk with you but I won't have Christmas dinner at your house; I'll defend you, but I won't go to your grandson's Christening', he's not doing his job – he's giving the prosecution an edge. | „ |
| ~ Kopell rationalizing helping his client to plan murders. |
Paul Kopell is the main antagonist of the Law & Order episode "House Counsel". He is a defense lawyer who bribes a juror on behalf of his client, mob boss Vincent Dosso, then helps to plan the juror's murder.
He was portrayed by the late Ron Leibman, who also portrayed Roy Cohn in the original Broadway production of Angels in America.
Biography[]
Kopell attended law school at NYU in the 1970s alongside Jack McCoy, with both of them joining the basketball team and beating their rivals at medical school three years running. Although a talented lawyer, Kopell only achieved a C grade because he spent most of his time in court defending the underprivileged and did not have time for studying. After graduating, Kopell became a defense attorney and married a woman named Anna and they had children together. He remained friends with McCoy in spite of the fact that McCoy had joined the District Attorney's office and thus was on the opposite side of the law.
Kopell became renowned for his legal prowess and was eventually hired by Vincent Dosso, head of the Dosso crime family, to represent the families' legal interests. He soon began to immerse himself in Dosso's world, feeling that he needed to understand him completely in order to provide the best defense possible, and also liking the feeling he got from hanging around such powerful people. He paid a woman who lived above one of the families' clubs to let them meet in her apartment while she was away, and began sitting in on meetings between Dosso and one of his soldiers, John Furini, during which they planned the murders of enemies of the family.
Dosso was eventually arrested after ordering Furini to murder union boss John O'Malley. Seeing that Dosso would likely be convicted, Kopell arranged for one of Dosso's men to bribe a county clerk for the names of all the jurors in the case. He then identified the juror who was the most in need of money - accountant David Lempert, who was struggling with his daughter's tuition fees - and had Furini offer him a large bribe in return for a 'not guilty' vote. This hung the jury, resulting in Dosso going free. Dosso later became concerned that Lempert would talk, so he ordered Furini to kill him, in a meeting Kopell sat in on.
"House Counsel"[]
Furini shoots Lempert dead and is soon identified as a suspect after it comes to light that Lempert was a juror in Dosso's trial, with the NYPD quickly working out that Lempert was likely bribed and then killed to stop him from talking. Dosso and Furini are arrested when a wiretap records them talking about Lempert's murder, and Kopell represents Dosso at his arraignment. Kopell argues that the warrant for the wiretap only covered Dosso and Furini's personal phones; as Dosso was calling from a payphone, this means the wiretap is only admissible against Furini, not Dosso. The judge agrees and suppresses the evidence, and Dosso is released.
McCoy and A.D.A. Claire Kincaid, who are prosecuting Furini, manage to obtain another warrant to wiretap Dosso, which records a meeting between Dosso, Kopell, and one of his henchmen, Al Gennaro, during which they discuss Lempert's murder. Dosso is arrested once again; however, once again Kopell manages to get the wiretap suppressed, this time arguing that since he is both Dosso and Gennaro's lawyer the conversation is protected by attorney-client privilege. Dosso is released yet again.
After Dosso's release, McCoy recalls that he had mentioned on the wiretap that Lempert was subscribed to Sporting News. As there is no way that Dosso could have gotten close to Lempert without arising suspicion, McCoy realizes that this information must have come from Kopell, and that he was the one who picked out Lempert to be bribed. After the county clerk confirms that he was bribed to give up the juror's names, McCoy and Kincaid indict Kopell for conspiracy to commit murder on the grounds that by bribing Lempert he was party to the conspiracy that led to his murder, making him equally culpable in the eyes of the law.
Kopell opts to represent himself in court, turning down a deal to testify against Dosso in return for immunity. He immediately moves to have the case thrown out, as the only evidence against him is the wiretap that was declared inadmissible; in response, McCoy argues that, since Kopell willingly immersed himself in Dosso's crimes, attorney-client privilege does not apply. In order to prove Kopell's involvement in the crimes, McCoy and Kincaid offer Furini a reduced sentence for Lempert's murder and full immunity for any other crimes he confesses to in return for testifying about Kopell's relationship with Dosso. Furini takes the deal, and testifies that Kopell was in the meeting where Dosso told him to kill Lempert; he also takes advantage of the immunity deal to confess to three other murders, including John O'Malley, and says that Kopell helped to plan those crimes as well.
McCoy offers Kopell another deal to inform on Dosso, but he once again refuses, arrogantly claiming that the fact that McCoy is even offering him a deal means he is clearly going to lose. At the conclusion of the trial, Kopell argues that, as a defense attorney, it is his ethical duty to represent his client to the best of his ability, and that to punish him for it would undermine the central principles of the justice system, while McCoy argues that Kopell's actions crossed a legal line and he should be punished for it like any other criminal. The jury sides with McCoy and Kopell is found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, shaking his head in disbelief as he is led down from the stand.
Trivia[]
- Kopell is based on Bruce Cutler, a lawyer who represented mafia boss John Gotti and was accused of being involved in criminal acts. The episode's title is a reference to a judge who described Cutler as the "in-house counsel" for the Gambino crime family.
External links[]
- Paul Kopell on the Law & Order Wiki
