“There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.”
Aristotle
Attorney George’s cases have been the subject of books, newspaper articles, magazine pieces, and television coverage for many years. His trials can be researched and reviewed through the wonder of the internet in the archives of the People Magazine, National Enquirer, Newsweek Magazine, USA Today, Court TV, A & E, MSNBC, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, New York Times, Cape Cod Times and many other cable networks, websites and blogs. Fifteen books on Mr. George’s cases have been written by various authors including Invisible Eden, If I Die, Deadly Alliance, Fire in the Desert, Killer Bodies, Black Mass, Deadly Greed, Death of an Angel, Killing Season, Missing Beauty, Murder in Boston, And Justice For Some, Shattered Innocence, Victims of Memory: Sex Abuse Accusations and Shattered Lives, Reasonable Doubt, Shallow Graves, and The Politics of Murder. Over the past forty years, Mr. George’s cases and his representation of his clients in their cases were the subjects of news coverage by regional and national newspapers, magazines, and television programs. These matters have also been covered by national and local news networks and by media outlets and programs such as MNBC, CNN, Court TV, ESPN, HBO, A&E, NECN, 48 Hours, Dateline, Nightline, Today, Good Morning America, Donahue, Oprah, American Justice, Catherine Crier, Dan Abrams, Larry King, Nancy Grace, Jami Floyd, Greater Boston, and many other shows and specials. A sampling of the print and audio media commentary on some of Mr. George’s cases can be easily recovered and reviewed by searching the archives of these publications and news media outlets as well as the corresponding blogs and chat rooms attached to these websites. Although much of the discussion of Mr. George’s work is available online, what follows are some excerpts…
“…one of the most prominent criminal defense lawyers in Boston…he’s known as a tough lawyer, a good lawyer, a well-connected lawyer…a fighter for his clients…”
David Yas, Lawyers Weekly
“…The right attorney to defend…the prosecution was outgunned and outmatched…the judge seemed impressed and maybe a bit intimidated, and the all-important jury seemed to appreciate the skill and professionalism of a real pro…This guy had everyone in the room glued to his every move, his every word. He’s that good.”
Bob Sawtelle, West Roxbury Bulletin
“…The scrappy Boston defense lawyer…is known for tough cases…just because the case is difficult doesn’t mean a guy like George is going to shy away from it. He’s won big cases. He’s lost big cases.”
Stacey Myers, Cape Cod Times
“…What [spectators] are fascinated by most is watching the flamboyant and often smirking defense lawyer Robert A. George…”
Meghan Tench, Boston Globe
“…He has a little more bulldog in him….he doesn’t believe in the old quote that you catch more bees with honey than with vinegar…he’s been very effective.”
Hillary Russ, Cape Cod Times
“….A go-getter defense lawyer with earnest brown eyes, a manner both friendly and slick, and the extravagant gestures of a stage actor…”
Francesca Coltrera, Boston Herald
“…[They] retained the services of a hired gun. A hired legal gun, that is…The proverbial 800-pound quarterback. In the person of Robert A. “Bob” George [they] have settled on their very own Johnnie Cochran. And why not?”
Peter Gelzinis, Boston Herald
“…A high profile defense specialist who loves tough cases…the man to have at your side…”
Dan Davis, Death of an Angel
“….George’s work has also earned him the respect of opposing lawyers and police officers…a natural…he is adroit at cross-examination…methodically picking apart witnesses in testimony until it collapses…like watching a person taking apart an erector set one nut, one bolt, one piece at a time.”
Jonathan Saltzman, Providence Journal
“Robert George [is] considered a brilliant criminal lawyer and a tough opponent to face in court…Street-tough, court-wise, rhetorically simple but brilliant…”
Mary Ryzuk, Shattered Innocence
“…Superb lawyer…”
Eric Williams, Cape Cod Times
“…I am proud to know him…he is as passionate an advocate as anyone who has ever appeared on Court TV.”
Rikki Klieman, Court TV
“…It is not often that we use the term brilliant, but that cross-examination was just that…”
Craig Jarrod, Court TV
“As the larger-than-life defense attorney Robert George can recite in his sleep, every criminal defendant should be presumed innocent…In his career, George represented a number of big-time clients, from mobsters and police officers to the trash collector convicted in a notorious Cape Cod murder…”
Boston Globe Editorial Board
“George is the wild card…probably one of the hotter defense attorneys in Massachusetts state courts.”
Ralph Ranalli, Boston Herald
“..Now after five weeks’ testimony not so many are so sure: the defense had scored heavily with brutal and withering cross-examination of witnesses, just as Robert George, aka “Bob” or “George” for the tough-guy type reporters, had chopped away at the state’s case element by element, leaving the supposedly ironclad charges of murder, aggravated-rape and -burglary subject to reasonable doubt — which, as any defense attorney will tell you, is what this sort of thing is all about. But the
reporters weren’t the only ones who’d moved into the defense corner. Large segments of the public, too, had been swayed. More than half the respondents in a poll conducted by Court TV during the third week had voted the state’s case insufficient…What had once been a powerful case had been exposed by George as one which was not worthy of belief, poorly investigated, bent on an arrest at any cost, and in some quarters, corrupt. “
Peter Manso, Pulitizer Prize-nominated author of Reasonable Doubt
“…George lets his reputation as a skilled and effective criminal defense attorney do the talking for him…George has had plenty of high-profile, headline-grabbing cases to keep him busy…George represents each of them with zeal and aplomb.”
Tony Wright, Lawyers Weekly
“…One of Boston’s best, most irrepressible lawyers…upbeat, a born advocate, [he is] itching to get back to the only place where he felt completely at ease: a courtroom…The Supreme Judicial Court…recently accepted the Board of Bar Overseers unanimous recommendation to restore that license. Bobby George is putting out a shingle again, back to practicing something he was very good at: the law…Back in the day, Bob George was arguably the busiest lawyer in town. High-profile murders. Wiseguys. Ordinary schmucks. He likes to try cases, rather than cop a plea, and that takes time and genuine effort. He also did appellate cases, which are wildly time-consuming…Some of the heaviest legal hitters in Boston supported getting his license restored: retired federal judge Nancy Gertner, defense lawyer Rosemary Scapicchio, former federal prosecutor Paul Kelly. Mel Greenberg, the retired judge, didn’t know him but read about his case in Lawyers Weekly and volunteered to speak in support…No one wants to be judged by their worst act in life. The redemption of Bobby George means he won’t be…Like George Bailey, the protagonist in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” Bobby George received a gift: after a moment of human frailty and failing, he got a second chance and got to find out who his real friends are. He was able to learn something we all know in our hearts but sometimes forget. ‘Without your family and your friends,’ Bobby George said, ‘you’re nothing.’”
Kevin Cullen, Boston Globe
“I have dealt with hundreds of attorneys during my career, both as adversaries and allies. I count Mr. George as one of the most capable, effective, well-regarded, and dedicated legal professionals with whom I had the privilege to work…He not only represented his clients, he immersed himself in their cases and displayed a rarely equaled commitment and passion to the pursuit and a just outcome in the case or cause at hand. He also never shied away from taking on the most difficult or unpopular clients or cases and always handled such matters with integrity and professionalism.”
Paul V. Kelly, Principal at Jackson Lewis P.C. and co-leader of the firm’s Sports Industry Group
“Bob is a man with an incredible intellect. charismatic personality. and a compassionate soul. I have known him for over twenty-five years and we speak often. We became close friends after a particularly difficult court-appointed case in which he defended a destitute man as if he was a member of his own family. I, as the court, was struck by the passion Bob exhibited for somebody he didn’t know until the case had been assigned to him before trial. Before and after that case. I marveled at his ability to zealously defend his clients.”
Christopher M. Markey, State Representative, Ninth Bristol District
“Bob is a zealous advocate for his clients. It is always a thrill to watch him in action…Bob is a true believer. Fifteen-hour trial days were the norm for Bob. He worked nights and weekends to give his clients the best possible chance of walking out of the courthouse…We oftentimes spoke of the David and Goliath-type battles he endured on behalf of his clients…Sometimes winning, sometimes losing, but always leaving everything he had to give in the courtroom…He is a legend.”
Rosemary Scapicchio, Principal, Law Offices of Rosemary Curran Scapicchio
“As a past president of the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association, Massachusetts Bar Association, and the New England Bar Association, I have interacted with many lawyers from across the region. Very few of these attorneys have impressed me as Mr. George has. I referred several cases to him which he not only took on but tried to a verdict despite the massive amount of time the matters would take with minimal fees to show for it. Those clients thanked me for the opportunity to have had Mr. George as their lawyer. His performances at trial are textbook-perfect, with his cross-examinations and closing argument examples of zealous, passionate, and effective advocacy. Mr. George is a compassionate individual who always went out of his way to help others. He knows no color, creed, or background and only cared about what a person was going through.”
James S. Dilday, Past President Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association, Massachusetts Bar Association, and the New England Bar Association
“A more difficult cross-examination is difficult to conjure. Bob persuaded everyone in that courtroom capable of suasion that the First Assistant District Attorney was wrong – she had not seen that witness identify his client. Twenty-eight years later, I remember it well. The highest principles of our profession in general, and criminal defense in particular, manifested at their best. Through zealous advocacy, he saved an eighteen-year-old’s life. Justice was done. I saw Bob George do it.”
John Cunha, Past-President of the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (MACDL), a member of MACDL’s Board for the past twenty years, and a voting member of the Massachusetts Sentencing Commission
“He was unusual in the sense of the many lawyers who appeared in my session he was always most prepared, he was knowledgeable of the law, he had an in-depth understanding when it came to sentencing structures and sentencing considerations of his clients…he would make a presentation with respect to his clients’ life and biography that showed that he took a real interest not only in the result he was trying to achieve but in understanding what it was about his clients that brought them to the brink of where they were…he stood out as an unusual criminal trial lawyer of the many I saw… I appreciated his work.”
(Ret) Judge Mel Greenberg, Massachusetts Appeals Court
“As a Judge, I looked forward to Bob’s court appearances inasmuch as he was always prepared, ready, respectful and courteous to everyone, and professional…He had a way of taking over the courtroom without offending anyone…Bob is an old-fashioned trial lawyer in that he does his own research, does his own writing; prepares and handles his own appeals and appears with his clients at every stage in a case. No one out-worked Bob and no one out-fought him at trial. He is a fierce advocate yet he belittles or demeans no one. He is totally committed to his clients and their cases, and he prepares so thoroughly that when he appears in court at any event he knows everything about his client, the case, and the applicable law. As a Judge, I trusted Bob just as other attorneys, his clients, and court personnel trusted him. Unlike so many others, Bob gets what it means to be an officer of the court.”
Hon. Daniel W. O’Malley, First Justice, Stoughton District Court
“He has been laser-focused on his clients’ cases, as well as his own…and…is a ferocious advocate, unlike anyone I have ever worked for.”
Thomas Shamshak, (Ret) Police Chief in Spencer and Winthrop, Private investigator
“Mr. George has been an excellent trial lawyer, fighting for the rights of his clients and others; …When I was on the bench, Mr. George appeared in front of me fairly regularly. I observed not only zealous advocacy and always ready to go forward, but also a collaborative effort that reflected integrity and honesty.”
(Ret) Judge Isaac Borenstein, Massachusetts Superior Court
“I have always tried to utilize the top attorneys in the Bar as ratings sources…Conducting thousands and thousands of these interviews all over the country h2s produced some memorable files. One such memorable file was that of Robert A. George. The dozens of responses on Bob were memorable, not just for their impressive content, but also for their uniformity in nature. Time and again, the feedback on Bob George was that he was a tireless advocate for his clients, who would tenaciously use any and all means at his disposal in their defense (he was assuredly no one’s favorite opponent), but always maintaining ethical comportment and staying within the guidelines of the Bar. The feedback from the review done on Robert George resulted in his getting the highest rating, Av, signifying that the lawyers and judges of the Bar had found his legal ability to be “very high to preeminent” and his ethics “beyond reproach”. This is a rating achieved by a very small percentage of the Bar.”
William Toland Jr., Former Martindale Hubbell New England Representative
“As a law enforcement officer for most of my life, I have crossed paths with thousands of lawyers, judges, prosecutors, and defense counsel. Bob George was one of the most talented, tenacious, and dedicated advocates I ever met and came to know, a man who devoted much of his time representing police officers and police unions pro bono, including many officers in my own department. He felt that everyone, including those of us who enforced the law, deserved the protection of the criminal justice system. Forcing the prosecution to make its case was his goal and he applied it in every case he handled.”
Dennis J. Teehan, (Ret) Chief, Dedham Police Department
“I know him as a very active and popular criminal defense lawyer with a reputation for zealous advocacy…Mr. George was an extraordinary advocate…what was significant … was the passion with which he represented [his clients] …I remember him to be among the best in terms of his energy, the commitment, and the work product.”
(Ret) Judge Nancy Gertner, United States District Court of Massachusetts
“I spent most of my career in the criminal justice system, mostly as a probation officer. I have known Bob George for a long time and watched him in courtrooms for many years. His defense performance never depended on who the defendants were or what they had done. Bob was one of the most intense and well-prepared lawyers I ever dealt with. He was always honest and straightforward with me and other court personnel with whom he dealt.”
James J. Brennan, (Ret) Chief Probation Officer, Quincy District Court
“…the best of the best, an honest and upstanding person. As an attorney, he never backed down from the huge legal challenges facing his clients, people who came from all levels of life and backgrounds. Most importantly, Bob was always professionally upright and never compromised any of the courthouse staff he worked with. He knew every one of our names, asked after our families, and was there for us when he was needed for legal problems, never charging a penny for his time or effort.”
Mark Gannon, Chief Court Officer, Somerville, Malden, and Woburn District Courts