COVID-19: Lawyer attends court in hazmat suit

By Legal Cheek

Florida’s Samuel J. Rabin Jr. takes no chances

A criminal defence lawyer has rocked up to court in a full hazmat suit.

Samuel J. Rabin Jr. recently attended a sentencing hearing at a federal courthouse in Miami, Florida, in some serious protective clobber as coronavirus cases in The Sunshine State continue to climb.

An image posted by another lawyer on social media shows Rabin wearing a a 3M hazmat suit, protective gloves, respirator mask and face shield. Law.com (£) reports Rabin was given the option to attend the hearing via Zoom but “felt the sentencing was too important to do online, especially after not being able to meet the client to go over his pre-sentence investigation report.”

He told the website:

“A sentencing is the most important stage of a person’s life that’s facing a criminal case, and I just think a lawyer has an ethical obligation to be standing there with them. Every defendant wants to talk to the judge and give his feelings, so I wanted to be there in case he had any questions or in case he wanted to talk to me before he spoke to the judge.”

Rabin’s super-safe approach comes as new cases of the virus in Florida jumped by more than 10,000 on Monday, making it one of the worst-hit states in the US.

Responding to the tweet, fellow US lawyer Sara Elizabeth Dill wrote: “What a hero… Sam will forever be a legend.” Elsewhere, Miguel M. de la O, a circuit judge for the 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida, joked: “Would have been a nice touch if he had worn a tie on the outside of the hazmat suit.”

Read the full article here…