New York-based Brafman, dubbed 'the man to have on speed-dial when you’re in really big trouble,' is the son of Holocaust survivors who grew up in Brooklyn and Queens and put himself through law school
His image may be in permanent ruin, but whether or not the disgraced IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn will set his sights on the Eiffel Tower anytime soon is largely up to one man: his attorney, Benjamin Brafman.
No stranger to celebrity scandal, the New York-based Brafman has represented stars from all over the famous/infamous continuum, from the rappers Sean “Diddy” Combs and Jay-Z, to pop icon Michael Jackson to various reputed members of the mafia. New York Magazine dubbed him “the man to have on speed-dial when you’re in really big trouble.” According to that same 1998 New York profile, Brafman’s wife Lynda, a librarian, had nicknamed him H.P. for “high profile”.
The son of Holocaust survivors, Brafman grew up in Brooklyn and Queens and put himself through Brooklyn College night school and then Ohio Northern University Law School, before getting an additional Master of Laws degree from New York University: “Okay, so it’s not Harvard,” reported New York writer Meryl Gordon, “but Brafman uses his down-to-earth pedigree to put people at ease. He’ll even joke about his equally down-to-earth stature (he boldly claims five feet six) to score points with juries. ‘He’s short, and he uses it well,’” she quotes criminal-defense lawyer Fred Hafetz as saying of Brafman.
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His image may be in permanent ruin, but whether or not the disgraced IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn will set his sights on the Eiffel Tower anytime soon is largely up to one man: his attorney, Benjamin Brafman.
No stranger to celebrity scandal, the New York-based Brafman has represented stars from all over the famous/infamous continuum, from the rappers Sean “Diddy” Combs and Jay-Z, to pop icon Michael Jackson to various reputed members of the mafia. New York Magazine dubbed him “the man to have on speed-dial when you’re in really big trouble.”
According to that same 1998 New York profile, Brafman’s wife Lynda, a librarian, had nicknamed him H.P. for “high profile”. At the time, he was representing “a Talmudic scholar-businessman accused of laundering money for the Cali drug cartel; a retired cop charged with murder; a rabbi charged, with Assemblyman Dov Hikind, of misusing federal funds; and the nightclub impresario Peter Gatien, who [was charged with] running his popular nightspots…as anything-goes drug supermarkets.”
The son of Holocaust survivors, Brafman grew up in Brooklyn and Queens and put himself through Brooklyn College night school and then Ohio Northern University Law School, before getting an additional Master of Laws degree from New York University: “Okay, so it’s not Harvard,” reported New York writer Meryl Gordon, “but Brafman uses his down-to-earth pedigree to put people at ease. He’ll even joke about his equally down-to-earth stature (he boldly claims five feet six) to score points with juries. ‘He’s short, and he uses it well,’” she quotes criminal-defense lawyer Fred Hafetz as saying of Brafman.
Fortunately for Strauss-Kahn, Brafman doesn’t cower from the lurid, the depraved, or the perverse. He defended Michael Jackson against those unforgettable child molestation allegations, as well as an alleged member of the Gambino crime family accused of car theft and murder (Brafman got this guy acquitted on 21 of 22 counts, according to The Financial Times). He also got Sean Combs out of a sticky spot, after that infamous nightclub shooting back in 1999, clearing Combs of the illegal weapons and bribery charges that could have marred his career. Despite eyewitness reports that claimed Combs culpable, the incident is a footnote in the bad memories department.
Now all eyes are on Brafman to see what he can do for Strauss-Kahn, the would-be French Socialist party presidential candidate who is now embroiled in an ugly sex scandal that threatens his ruin. Strauss-Kahn is currently awaiting trial on allegations of sexual assault, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment of a hotel chambermaid. According to ABC News, the complaint filed with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office says “he forcibly touched the housekeeper’s breasts, attempted to pull off her panty hose, twice, ‘forcibly made contact with his penis and the informant’s mouth’ and that ‘the defendant engaged in oral sexual conduct and anal sexual conduct with another person by forcible compulsion.’” Earlier today, Strauss-Kahn was denied bail because he is considered a potential flight risk.
It’s tough enough pitting a lowly chambermaid against a powerful international politico, but with Brafman in the mix, it seems even more unlikely the housekeeper will get a fair shake. In addition to legal skills, Brafman has a reputation for being charismatic, verily persuasive, and “imaginative and clever,” as Brafman’s colleague, L.A. attorney Mark Geragos put it to The Financial Times. He is, by many accounts, something of a star himself, a guy with real Hollywood style—and a background in performance.
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