Harvey Weinstein’s Chicago lawyers: A trial ‘bulldog’ and a fan of the Supreme Court — and Sinatra

Donna Rotunno and friend and frequent legal collaborator Damon Cheronis will represent Weinstein, the film producer who became one of the major faces of the #MeToo movement. But for the two defense attorneys, it’s the “type of case that trial lawyers live for,” Cheronis said.

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Damon Cheronis and Donna Rotunno

Attorneys Damon Cheronis, left, and Donna Rotunno will represent Harvey Weinstein in his criminal case. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

Rich Hein/Sun-Times

Chicago defense attorney Donna Rotunno didn’t immediately agree to represent film producer Harvey Weinstein in the criminal case that could determine whether he goes to jail or remains a free man.

But it wasn’t anything about the once mighty film producer, the allegations against him or concern about any backlash for representing him. She’s a defense lawyer. All that goes with the territory.

Rather, it was about her, and what she could bring to the case.

“When I met him, the first thing I said was ‘unless I can be effective for you, I don’t want to do this,’” Rotunno said.

Described as “a bulldog in the courtroom,” Rotunno ultimately decided she could be effective and ready when jury selection begins in two months.

Rotunno and friend and frequent legal collaborator Damon Cheronis will represent Weinstein, the film producer who became one of the major faces of the #MeToo movement that has given voice to women and toppled the careers of many famous men.

Scores of women in the entertainment world — as many as 87 according to a list compiled by USA Today — came forward starting in 2017 alleging that Weinstein sexually harassed or assaulted them. The women include members of Hollywood’s A-list — Ashley Judd, Uma Thurman, Salma Hayek, Gwyneth Paltrow and other actresses, screenwriters, producers and former employees of Weinstein.

The identities of the women in the upcoming trial have not been released.  

One is a female acquaintance Weinstein is accused of raping in his Manhattan hotel room in 2013. The other is a woman he is accused of performing a forcible sex act on in 2006.

Harvey Weinstein, center, in 2018.

Harvey Weinstein, center, leaves New York Supreme Court in New York in 2018. File Photo.

Mark Lennihan/AP

Altogether, Weinstein is charged with five felony sex crimes.

But for the two defense attorneys, it’s the “type of case that trial lawyers live for,” Cheronis said.

“You put everything else about the case aside,” Cheronis said. “It’s an important case on important issues. Our job is to make sure our client gets a fair trial besides the media and the circumstances that are out there. That’s why we became lawyers. If we keep that as our goal, we’re going to do a good job.”

According to the original indictment, Weinstein is charged with rape in the first and third degrees for a forced sexual act in March 2013 against a woman in New York. He was later accused of a criminal sexual act in the first degree for a forcible sexual act against another woman in 2006, as well as two counts of predatory sexual assault. Charges involving still another woman’s allegations from 2004 were dropped from the case.

A civil lawyer who works for Weinstein called Rotunno at the end of May to discuss her representing the former film producer.

Weinstein’s team wanted a female defense attorney with experience in these sorts of cases, and Rotunno fit the bill. The defense attorney has represented many men, including a Bears cornerback, who were accused of sexual assault, murder and other life or career ending allegations. She likes these kinds of cases and views them as opportunities to “uncover the truth.”

“The #MeToo movement had its inception when these circumstances came to light, and I think the problem with movements in general is that they rise out of allegations and not facts or evidence,” Rotunno said. “I think that using him as a jump start for another conversation may be what the motivation was, but it also probably takes into account people’s own perception of things without looking at all the facts.”

Cheronis echoed that, saying the case isn’t about a movement, it’s about the “facts of the case, and we want to do everything we can to limit the case to the facts.” 

Damon Cheronis, left, and Donna Rotunno

Attorneys Damon Cheronis, left, and Donna Rotunno.

Rich Hein/Sun-Times

After that call from Weinstein’s civil lawyer, Rotunno asked Cheronis to join her because she knew she’d feel “much more comfortable having myself with someone who knows how I work and I know how they work.”

The two powerful defense attorneys — and proud Chicagoans — share a law office, cases and legal victories including a not guilty verdict in a murder trial a few months ago.

Jury selection begins Sept. 9 and the trial will likely last four to six weeks, the defense attorneys said. That means they have some time to prepare — time that will likely include weekends and holidays.

“I’ll be reading discovery while watching fireworks,” Cheronis said, earlier this week.

Those who know the two lawyers aren’t surprised they agreed to take the case.

Frank Lipuma, a former assistant U.S. attorney, who has tried cases with Cheronis said the defense attorney is “good on his feet” and “prepares better than anyone I know.”

“He’s one of the most talented trial attorneys you’re going to see,” Lipuma said. “He could argue Supreme Court precedence and then be in front of a jury referencing a Frank Sinatra tune. He’s comfortable in front of judges and juries ... people in New York may not know who Damon is now but they will know who he is once the trial starts.”

Stanley Stallworth, a lawyer and former partner at Sidley Austin, was represented by Rotunno when he was accused of sexual assault. He said she “did an A-plus job” and he’d recommend her to anyone facing criminal charges.

“Donna is a bulldog in the courtroom,” Stallworth said. “She is extremely well prepared, and she is an aggressive defense lawyer who brings her A-game to the courtroom every day. She has a great sense of what the client needs, not just in terms of legal representation, but also when a person is involved in a criminal situation, they’re not thinking clearly and they need emotional support. She always knew when to push and when not to.”

Rotunno and Cheronis will go out to New York in mid-August to prepare for the trial. That’ll mean giving up the comforts of home — Cheronis will be missing Bears home games for the first time in a while. 

Attorneys Donna Rotunno, left, and Damon Cheronis, right

Attorneys Donna Rotunno, left, and Damon Cheronis, right will represent Harvey Weinstein in his criminal case. | Rich Hein/Sun-Times

Rich Hein/Sun-Times

There have been a series of shakeups on Weinstein’s defense team, with the film producer at one point being represented by the same attorney who represented Casey Anthony, who was accused of murdering her two-year-old daughter Caylee.

Another former lawyer, Ronald L. Sullivan, was a faculty dean at Harvard University who stepped down from the team after backlash from students at the prestigious school. Though he stepped down, Harvard chose not to renew his appointment — or his wife’s — before they ended last month.

Veteran defense attorney Steve Greenberg, who has been in the national spotlight alongside famous clients R. Kelly and Drew Peterson, said the Weinstein trial looks like a career-making case for the two relatively young lawyers. For whatever reason, defense attorneys from media capitals New York and Los Angeles have long been the first choice of celebrity defendants.

Ashley Judd and Salma Hayek

Actors Ashley Judd, left, and Salma Hayek are two of the actresses who have accused Harvey Weinstein of sexually inappropriate behavior. “Harvey Weinstein is my monster too,” Hayak wrote in the New York Times.

Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for InStyle

”I was a little surprised, just because you don’t see lawyers from Chicago getting these sorts of cases. But these are two very good lawyers,” Greenberg said. 

Greenberg, who sparred with his co-counsel Joel Brodsky during Peterson’s trial, said Weinstein’s history of fighting with his lawyers wouldn’t have deterred him from taking the case — not least because the judge will probably not allow Weinstein to switch out his legal team again.

”What was going on was very dysfunctional, but this has to be it” for Weinstein’s shuffling of his legal team, Greenberg said. “They’re going to have to make it work, or it’s going to be bad for everyone.”

For Rotunno, any time someone puts their freedom in the palm of your hand, it “is one of the most serious things to be tasked with.”

“The only reason to not take a case like this is all the things around it — it’s not the case, it’s the backlash. We put ourselves in these circumstances, and it’s become so out there,” Rotunno said. “Some would love that and love what it does for them, but not us.

“Everyone deserves a defense. I think for me — why I take these cases — is I do believe we can be effective for him. I do think we can do this with integrity and I believe in the work we do and I took the case because I do believe that there’s no two better people to do it.”

And that’s why Rotunno’s initial hesitation was brief.

“I do think we’ll be effective. We’ll be ready Sept. 9.”

Contributing: Andy Grimm

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