Power of Attorney

Aug. 31 -- Can the same attorney who helped Dr. Jack Kevorkian so many times also help you recover lost sums of money from an ex-spouse or estranged lover?

Thanks to the new FOX syndicated TV show, Power of Attorney, that can happen. Now attorneys such as Kevorkian’s longtime counsel, Geoffrey Fieger, O.J. Simpson prosecutor Christopher Darden and famed defense lawyer F. Lee Baily can take on small claims issues on national TV.

The cases involve small-claims court sums of money, which amounts to $10,000 or less. Participants on the show sign a contract that names him as an unappealable arbitrator, meaning that if a plaintiff loses, he waives the right to a trial. But if the plaintiff wins, the pay-out is issued by FOX.

Taking a nod from the latest in reality TV, producers will show real attorneys arguing real cases before a real judge. Not even the peering cameras of Court TV allow viewers to witness arguments in the judge’s chambers.

“Finally, I can really be myself,” Fieger said in a recent telephone interview. “Most that can happen is that they can put me in a cardboard jail [for contempt.]”

An Opportunity to Teach?

“I wanted an opportunity to teach the American people about the least understood part of American government, the Judiciary,” said Andrew P. Napolitano, the judge on Power of Attorney, and a former Bergen County Superior Court Judge. Aside from his gig on the show, he’s an attorney with the firm Sills, Cummis, Tishman, Epstein, and Gross, in Newark, N.J., where he focuses on commercial litigation issues.

“This is absolutely the most realistic courtroom show on TV,” he said. “It’s the only one with lawyers. No judge could get away with what Judge Judy does, and how she treats [people involved with the case.]”

Needless to say, Napolitano uses his position not only as a mediator, but also as a person who can moralize, even just a little. He recalls one case where a 12 year old boy was suing his father after not receiving a promised $20 per “A” on his report card.