Prominent
Honolulu defense attorney Michael Jay Green is the first to admit his
occupation isn’t the most respected in the public’s eye. He understands
that many people perceive defense lawyers as, “On the side of the
devil.” Never mind that as you enter his
| Defense
Attorney Michael Green is not only one of Hawaii's most noted lawyers,
but also somewhat of a fashion trend-setter for courtroom attire. One
has to admit that a leopard print silk shirt provides contrast to the
monotonous black robe worn by the presiding judge.
| Queen Street office, you pass
the doorway and immediately see an inspirational portrait of Jesus
Christ washing the feet of a harried attorney, a comforting Bible verse
beneath.
Green shrugs off the negative stereotypes, the lawyer jokes. “Everybody
hates lawyers,” he says. That is until you need
one. Still, his slightly amused demeanor belies a sense of something
inside. A flesh-and-blood passion that wants to pound a fist into the
table and exclaim, “It’s your kid I’m defending.”
Green is arguably one of the most high-profile attorney’s in Hawaii,
and his past clientele is a testament to his notoriety. Green estimates
he’s tried 1500 trials in his career, both jury and jury waived. He’s
represented people in 20 states, Guam, as well as foreign nationals
dealing with U.S. courts. While practicing on the mainland, he served
as defense for Latino street gangs, Black Panther members, and accused
organized crime figures, not to mention high-profile drug dealers. And
in 1989, he also successfully represented the National Basketball
Association Cleveland Cavaliers’ number one draft pick, John “Hot Rod”
Williams in New Orleans.
Since relocating from Chicago to Hawaii, he has represented former
Bishop Estate trustee Lokelani Lindsey, former state Rep. Nathan
Suzuki, and briefly, former Honolulu police Lt. Clyde Arakawa, among
other notable cases. He was also counsel to several family members of
victims in the Xerox workplace shootings. And as he serves in one high
profile case after another, his reputation grows, as does the demand
for his services.
“I’ve had people come into my office and say, “I hear you’re the
biggest @#!* in town, a 500-pound-gorilla,” Green joked. “You’re the guy I want.” I guess that can be taken as a compliment.”
In fact, total strangers use his status to their advantage. The mere
mention of his name seems enough to make differing parties reconsider
disputes. “I get calls about threatened lawsuits where I have never
even met the person I supposedly represent,” Green recalls.
Green understands the public perception of the defense attorney and
says a lot of the negative image is justified. Many lawyers behave in
ways that readily reinforce that opinion.
“Probably about 10 percent of attorneys in America are called “trial
lawyers,” said Green “Of that 10 percent, seven should never set foot
in a courtroom. It takes a special kind of person to do the job right.”
Green believes strongly in what he does. As a noted attorney, Green is
often asked to speak at seminars and lectures; something he enjoys
doing. He was recently one of eight lawyers invited to speak at a
conference of Hawaii State Judges. In addition, he has lectured for
groups of public defenders, prosecuting attorney’s, as well as civic
groups. He speaks passionately about his profession, but he never
really set out to become a high-profile defense attorney. That role was
thrust upon him, in of all places, divorce court. When he started
practicing law in Chicago, Green handled a lot of divorce work. The
breakup of a marriage’s can become emotional and often bitter, although
they are usually considered civil affairs. The nation’s high divorce
rate necessitates work for lawyers on both sides, with many attorneys’
specializing in the field. But two of his last divorce cases would
drastically alter the direction of his career.
“One of my clients had a mental disease and shot her husband five times
during breakfast,” Green recalled. “She was diagnosed as schizophrenic
and found not guilty by reason of insanity. Green thereafter was able
to collect double indemnity on the husband’s life insurance policy. In
another case, the prosecution alleged that my client arranged a
contract murder against her husband. So, I started in divorce court and
wound up doing murder cases.”
After his initiation into criminal defense, Green went on to hire the
19-year-old leader of Chicago’s “Latin Kings” street gang who had
previously been convicted of murder. The hiring came after Green was
able to convince the Parole Board to commute his sentence. The former
gang leader went on to work as Green’s office manager for 12 years.
Green defended other gangs like the Latin Counts, the Black Peace Stone
Nation, and members of the Black Panthers. In Miami, he represented
Columbian and Cuban clients in major drug cases. Back in Chicago, he
began defending organized crime figures. His reputation as a tough
attorney brought a call from the Cleveland Cavaliers, when their number
one draft pick, was accused of point shaving during his collegiate
career at Tulane University in the mid 1980’s. The Williams case
brought Green into the national spotlight and earned him recognition as
a top defense lawyer.
With success comes a price. Nothing is free. Green doesn’t seem to
comprehend the term “down time.” After years of stressful cases on the
mainland, Green relocated to Hawaii with plans to settle down. His
wife, Estelle grew up in the Islands and Green was admittedly, “burned
out.” Green wanted to take it easy, and he did
so, for about a year and a half. But Hawaii is much more laid back than
Chicago. And the courtroom was an arena that Green began to miss. He
resumed practice. In his first major case since his “retirement,” Green
successfully defended local attorney Leonard Appell, who had been
accused of soliciting the murder of fellow attorney Martin Wolff. The
case pitted Green against then Prosecuting Attorney Keith Kaneshiro.
After that, Green got a record verdict in a civil case. The judicial
community in Hawai’i got a quick introduction to the lawyer and Green
resumed a career.
15 years later, Green’s practice has grown into a law firm with seven
other respected attorneys, including former State Attorney General Earl
Anzai and renowned lawyer Myles S. Briener. Green says the firm handles
about 20 percent criminal cases and 80 percent civil litigation.
Green’s
success as an attorney has given the ability to stand out in the social
register. His birthday parties are attended by scores of local
celebrities and appear in the newspaper society columns. He plays an
occasional round of golf with former Governor Ben
| Green poses with HMW publisher Mary Jean Castillo following his candid interview.
| Cayetano, a cousin of
his wife, Estelle. And He is a notoriously flamboyant dresser, sporting
a vivid leopard skin print silk shirt during his interview. His office
is filled with artwork, sculpture, and a vast library of books. He sits
behind a massive gold inlaid desk, the defining addition of an eclectic
collection of artifacts that combine to fuel the energy and dynamic
personality of his downtown Honolulu office with an aura of power.
Flamboyant as he may seem, Green wasn’t holding the proverbial “silver
spoon” anytime in his childhood, nor as he was growing up. He still
remembers what it’s like to hustle for a buck. His was the oft told
saga of “growing up fast.” Green was on his own and “on the street” at
18 years of age, having no real family to speak of-- his mother having
left for the east coast, and his father long gone. Green stayed in
Chicago, and did what he could to put food on the table. He worked
numerous odd jobs, including time as a shoe salesman, running a hot dog
stand as well as tending bar to pay his rent as well as his way through
school.
The successful attorney now seems light years removed from that time,
but it always somewhere in his thinking, in the way he sees the world
and interacts with those around him. He’s now accustomed to receiving
the finest service at a restaurant or lounge. But he remembers being on
the opposite side of those accommodations. And if you’re lucky enough
to wait on him, chances are it will be worth the effort. He’s just
“paying back.”
“I tend to go a little overboard with waitresses, waiters, bartenders,
and doormen,” admits Green. “I remember what it was like. I couldn’t
afford my law books if somebody didn’t put two bucks in that tip jar.
You always have to remember where you came from.”
Green remembers sharing a small, dirty apartment with a friend, a
friend that he still cherishes and calls every week or so. He thinks
back and decides it wasn’t even an apartment, just a room.
They used to have arguments over whose turn it was to buy toilet paper.
At 15 cents a roll, the disputes must have been intense. Green
remembers laying one particular day on a “Murphy bed,” the kind with a
handle that folds out from the wall. And he’s trying to rest, but the
walls are so thin and the neighbors also have a Murphy bed, and he
hears the couple in the adjoining room making passionate love--loud, passionate love.
As Green lay awake in bed, looking up at the cracked ceiling, he knew
he had to get out. Escaping from poverty became something that carried
and drove him through the dirty jobs and longs nights of study.
Green pauses in the midst of a hectic day and smokes a cigarette with a glass of wine. The respite
from his hectic day allows him to lets his guard down for a moment and
his tone changes. Green now speaks in a softer tone, his eyes open
wide, and he leans slightly forward, as if he is speaking to a close
friend. For a moment, he’s not in the courtroom, nor in the lens of a
camera. His massive desk appears much larger, and he shrinks to life.
One glimpses Green as a man, just like the guy at the corner gas station, albeit with a wardrobe that might cost a few months’ pay.
The tough shell opens and you immediately see the contrasts.
The rich lawyer who remembers the hungry days, working his way to the
top. The attorney who “sides with the devil” is a professed Christian.
To the world, he’s a flashy, aggressive, dapper socialite and
successful defense lawyer. But a measure of humility seems just under
the hardened surface. In an instant, you see a very powerful man who is
also very much human. The flashy clothes were once a clean shirt and a
pair of jeans. Michael Green is fully aware who he is, but he’ll never
forget who he was and where he came from.
“I think it’s important never to think you’re too important,” Green said.
Green works seven days a week and there is little “down time.” At home,
he is usually surrounded by stacks of legal books and briefs. Green
often wakes up in the middle of the night to jot down a memo regarding
a case. Even with his family, he is often admittedly “somewhere else”
and they can tell by his expression. Green credits his wife, Estelle
for the support she gives to a man often consumed by his profession.
Estelle, the former Ms. Hawaii Philippines has appeared in several
films, but her role as wife of one of the most sought after attorney’s
in the state is probably more demanding than the rest combined. “Most
women would ask for a divorce,” Green admits. “I’m really fortunate to
have a fantastic wife.”
The lifestyle takes it toll. The constant work, the pain--felt from
both sides of the aisle. Green sees it happen to his colleagues, and
prays it doesn’t happen to him quickly.
“Trial lawyers don’t normally die of old age,” he says soberly. “They
have strokes, heart attacks, or drop dead. They also have a high rate
of alcoholism and substance abuse.”
Green’s caseload and schedule may take up the majority of his time, but
every Saturday, he gets a few hours reprieve. He’s up at 5:30 am and
off to the greens. His Saturday starts with an early tee time on the
golf course, followed by an hour in the sun behind the clubhouse. Drink
in hand and no thoughts whatsoever—that’s as close as he gets to “down
time.”
His weekly round of golf means a lot, and not just the escape from the
crushing burden of his workload. It’s a chance to just be “one of the
guys.” One would likely imagine Green on the golf course with other
high profile attorneys, people of influence, and prospective clients.
But his partners are more than likely folks like a group of elevator
repairmen he regularly tees with. Green describes them as, “normal,
hard working guys,” no bull, just “real folks.” Out on the greens,
there is no distinction. And the attorney relishes that. In fact, he’s
played with the same club for over 20 years.
“One off the guys said to me, ‘Hey, you’re a rich lawyer, and I don’t
know much about the law, but you don’t have an attitude,” Green
recalls. “I told him, “You don’t have an attitude either. I know
nothing about elevators, but you don’t hold it against me.”
Green says that state of mind is especially true in Hawaii, where
respect for one another and humility are seen as virtue. No big head,
eh?
“I learned that when I played golf with Governor (Ben) Cayetano,” said
Green. “People were cutting the greens, mowing the lawn. And they see
him and say, “Hey, Ben.” There’s none of that “Governor or Mister” out
there on the course.”
Green says he looks back at his life and has learned to “never take
things for granted.” But the days of pinching pennies and arguing over
toilet paper are far behind. He has obviously risen to the top of his
profession and tries to enjoy the fruits of his labor. He sits in his
office sometimes and listens to French music that he doesn’t
understand. “It is still very peaceful,”
says Green. He looks around at the elegance that surrounds him and
pauses. That feeling follows him as he goes home. He sits in his
spacious house, with the pool and surrounding trees and the 300-foot
driveway that leads to it, and he thinks. “I LIVE here.”
And his mind races back to the hotdog stands and the tip jars and he
remembers the past and savors the present and he looks out at it all.
You sense that although Green will probably want for nothing the rest
of his life, he still pinches himself now and then to make sure it’s
all true.
“I feel so fortunate”
Green says with a lowered head. “This is what I do, but I understand
that I’m very lucky to have gotten here. And I’ll always remember how I got here.”
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