Creative thinking and commanding knowledge of the law landed Lawline.com faculty member Gerald L. Shargel into Sunday’s New York Times.  The article, entitled Bail Sitters, discussed the increased privatization of bail, and detailed such high-profile cases as that of Bernie Madoff and Marc S. Dreier, the latter who Shargel defended.

Shargel has produced such Lawline.com courses as Ethical Issues with Roger Clemens and Other High Profile Clients and A Practical Approach to the Rules of Evidence, amongst several others. He has been a member of the New York Bar since 1969 and limits his practice to the defense of serious criminal cases. Over the past several decades, Shargel has handled numerous high profile cases at both the trial and appellate level.

Shargel is cited in the article for his role in convincing the courts to allow his client, Mr. Dreier, to be released into the custody of a team of private guards at his home. “What guards do is put a mechanism in place that reassures the court,” Shargel explained in the article. “There are people on site who are there to make sure that the conditions are enforced.”

Bail generally cannot be denied unless there is reason to believe that the individual poses a danger to the community or is a threat to escape. It is often associated with favoring wealthy individuals; the poor often lack the resources to post bail. As Judge Jed S. Rakoff wrote in his statement for the Dreier case, “This is a serious flaw in our system. But it is not a reason to deny a constitutional right to someone who, for whatever reason, can provide reasonable assurances against flight.”

Shargel has also been the recipient of many awards, including the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ Thurgood Marshall Award for outstanding criminal law practitioner.