Poor billionaire Allen Stanford. Assets frozen, stuck behind bars. Now he’s getting a federal public defender. Some people think public defenders provide second-rate legal representation. But truth be told, federal defenders around the country generally have a very good reputation and often provide better representation than some highly paid attorneys.
Brenda Sapino Jeffreys
Texas Lawyer
R. Allen Stanford has new lawyers, but they are not from Patton Boggs, which announced in late July it was replacing Houston criminal defense attorney Dick DeGuerin as the Houston financier’s criminal defense firm.
On Tuesday U.S. District Judge David Hittner of the Southern District of Texas granted DeGuerin’s motion to withdraw as Stanford’s criminal defense attorney. He appointed the federal public defender’s office to represent Stanford after determining that Stanford does not have money immediately available to pay for private attorneys.
In July, DeGuerin of DeGuerin & Dickson in Houston asked to be let out of the case because DeGuerin wanted assurance that he will be paid. Lawyers from Washington, D.C.-based Patton Boggs announced in late July they were representing Stanford, but they have not formally entered the case because they also want assurance they will be paid.
