Lawyer of the Day

Lawyer of the Day: Hatim 'Biker Dude' Attalla

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We know many lawyers have “secret” other lives. Last night, we went to the surprisingly good debut performance of one of our legal friend’s rock bands. Some legal types dabble in the visual arts. Some attorneys have a little prostitution gig on the side…
It’s best if your extracurricular activities are not of the variety that push legal boundaries.
Hatim (Tim) Attalla, of counsel at Miller Canfield in Detroit, likes to spend his free time on a Harley with the Detroit Highwaymen Motorcycle Club. Nothing wrong with that. Lawyers and leather go together just fine.
But the love of the road, and his fellow bikers, allegedly led Attalla to stray from the straight path of the law. Now he’s part of a 35-count federal court RICO indictment. From the Detroit News:

Hatim “Tim” Attalla is charged in the indictment with conspiracy to possess and distribute illegal drugs. It’s alleged he advised arrested club members to keep quiet about former club vice-president Aref “Scarface” Nagi’s involvement in drug dealing, supplied Nagi with a variety of pills, and acted “as general counsel to the enterprise.”

Terrible timing. Attalla was named on Wednesday to the new Detroit mayor Dave Bing’s crisis turnaround team. Yes, the mayor who was elected to replace philandering mass-texter Kwame Kilpatrick. Does Detroit exist just to make New Orleans feel better about itself?
More on the Highwaymen’s general counsel of corruption, after the jump.


This indictment’s a big deal, says the Detroit News:

The U.S. Attorney’s Office today unsealed a sweeping racketeering indictment against the Highwaymen Motorcycle Club, alleging conspiracy to commit murder, armed robbery, extortion, assault with weapons, drug dealing, trading in stolen goods, and obstruction of justice, among other crimes.
“This is the largest prosecution in the history of Michigan of a motorcycle gang and one of the largest in the history of the nation,” interim U.S. Attorney Terrence Berg said at a 3 p.m. news conference.

The politicians talking about the fall of Attalla are enjoying making subtle Godfather references. From the Detroit Free-Press:

“Mayor Bing bragged for months that he had a super-secret team of allies that would turn our city around,” said Tom Barrow, who is running against Bing in the August primary. “Perhaps Mr. Attalla’s background is why he kept his team under wraps for so long.”
Barrow continued: “The indictment of Mr. Atalla on the third day of the Bing administration is not a good sign of things to come. Mayor Bing has not only filled his team of advisers with outsiders, he is now relying on the advice of an indicted motorcycle gang consigliere accused of involvement with a drug gang.”

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On his firm bio, Attalla is quoted saying, “”My philosophy is to go the extra mile for my clients. I have an internal and relentless drive to assist my clients in networking and expanding their business in new global markets.”
We think he should have put a governor on that relentless drive when it came to his biker gang’s drug business.
Bing adviser indicted in Highwaymen Motorcycle Club crackdown [Detroit News]
Bing challenger critical of attorney’s indictment [Detroit Free Press]
Biglaw Attorney Charged In Biker Club Racketeering Indictment [Blogonaut]

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