Profile: The Glory Hound

The following is another in my occasional Profiles in the Albany NY legal community. Keep in mind these are generally semi-fictional.

The Glory Hound is well known to most attorneys in the area. He is a vigorous promoter of both himself and a cause or two. He brims with self-confidence. Listening to him, he has inside knowledge about all the movers and shakers at the local, state and federal level. This one's a drunk but hides it well; that one's a drunk and doesn't hide it well; another one is having an affair and her spouse threw her out of the house; and so on. At times it seems hard to believe he can be so well-connected in so many places. And yet his comments sometimes turn out to be true. Maybe it's not just ego, or maybe he really is connected??

As the name suggests, the Glory Hound is obsessed with getting press and with people reading whatever is written about him. He expresses disappointment if you didn't read that article about him in today's paper - even if it's an obscure local paper that he shouldn't expect you to read. He craves controversy, perhaps because it gets him more attention from the media.

He is not an idiot. The Glory Hound is well versed in the law. When you discuss cases with him he has good suggestions and asks the right questions. He may not be the best lawyer in the world, but he's no slouch in a courtroom. At times he seems to have lost touch with the lives of regular people, but he still has a lot of friends who believe in him. He is also quite charming.

Hated by some, loved by others, and puzzling to many, the Glory Hound is hard to be sure about. Is he as rich as he claims he is? Does he really know all those people? What makes him tick? He should probably write an autobiography to answer these questions and many others. And given his need for attention, it's surprising he hasn't written it already.

This is not meant as an attack. When I see him, a smile comes to my face. I am drawn to him. He just has natural charisma. Maybe he's just more interesting than the average Joe, perhaps because he believes that himself so strongly.

And he probably wants me to put his name on this profile. :-)