Mickey Sherman: The Serious Class Clown

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If you think Mickey Mouse is hilarious, spend a couple of hours with Mickey Sherman! There is never a dull moment with this engaging and renowned criminal- defense attorney who describes himself as having been a poor student and a class clown growing up. His quick humor and wit are unmatched. In the legal profession, however, the story is very different. When Mickey Sherman walks towards a courthouse, pit bulls within a ten-mile radius run for cover. If you’re looking for a lawyer, Mickey suggests, “Don’t necessarily look for a nice guy. You want an attorney who has had results. Law is a results driven business, so you need to find someone who has had success in your type of case.”
Michael “Mickey” Sherman was born in Los Angeles, California, near Hollywood Boulevard. At age 5, he moved to the east coast because of his father’s employment in the advertising business. His family settled in Greenwich, Connecticut. Growing up poor in a rich town afforded him access to good schools, as well as many great activities and programs. He was never bitter or jealous at seeing the MG or Corvette belonging to his classmates in the high school parking lot. Mickey says unabashedly,
“My old, beat up Chevy was just fine with me.” Living up to his reputation as the class clown, Mickey quips, “The ‘No Child Left Behind’ policy in Greenwich declares: You get to go to your friend’s homes in Vail in the winter and to you friend’s home in Nantucket in the summer!”
After graduating from Greenwich High School, Mickey earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Connecticut and graduated in 1971 with a J.D. from the University of Connecticut Law School. He explains, nonchalantly, his motivation to study law. “I belonged to the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity in college. When I saw all my brothers taking the law school entrance exam, I decided to do the same thing.”
Mickey served as an Assistant Public Defender in the Stamford Superior Court for one year, then served as an Assistant Prosecutor for four years. In 1976, he was appointed Assistant Town Attorney for the Town of Greenwich. Mickey Sherman is a founding member of the Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyers Association; a member of the American Trial Lawyers Association, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and a member/ lecturer of the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association.
After being successful in a variety of high profile and “not so high profile” cases which were reported in both the local and national media, Mickey was tapped as a legal expert and commentator on MSNBC, CNN, Rivera Live, Fox News and TruTV (formerly Court TV). He has been employed as a legal analyst on CBS News, appearing on the CBS Early Show and CBS Evening News. Great exposure on television has been a double- edged sword for Mickey. “TV exposure can hurt your practice, making it appear as if you are too expensive, too busy, or only handle high profile cases,” he warns. “It is not just about 20/20 or 48 Hours. I’m a real garden variety criminal-defense lawyer who handles real, everyday cases such as shoplifting, domestic violence, DWIs, larceny… You name it, I do it.”
In addition to serving as a legal commentator on various networks, Mickey Sherman is also the author of How can you defend those people? His poignantly insightful response to this question is, “Because every client is different, every case is different and everyone deserves the best defense available to them! ”
Mickey has a relentless drive not to mess up because people’s freedom and lives are often in his hands in the courtroom. He doesn’t want to let them down. To help others achieve their goals, Mickey advises, “Take your responsibilities seriously and treat others the way you want to be treated.”
The best advice Mickey ever received came from a fellow attorney who told him, “Don’t take yourself too seriously.”
On June 23, 2006, Mickey Sherman married Lis Wiehl, a Fox News legal analyst and author. Mickey has a 35-year-old son and a 33-year-old daughter from his first marriage. Both are married. He has a 15-year- old stepson and an 11-year-old stepdaughter from his wife’s previous marriage. Mickey’s son made him the grandfather of a 5-year-old boy and a 2-year-old girl. Mickey is proud of the special bond he shares with all the kids and especially his grandson, “We both like the color green.”
A motorcycle enthusiast, Mickey has owned a Harley- Davidson for 30 years and enjoys windsurfing. He’s also a fanatical snowboarder.
With such high-energy hobbies, one would expect to see a sweaty Mickey Sherman running up and down the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro alongside Kenyan runners preparing for the Olympic marathon. Surprisingly, when it comes to exercising, Mickey reveals, “I drive by the gym now and then.”
With respect to Fairfield County, Mickey likes the fact that its citizens are congenial. “We are not living in a desert. It is culturally a great place, a combination of rural and urban life, with Manhattan only 45 minutes away.” He appreciates 203’s sophistication and diversity.
Richardson in Greenwich is where Mickey Sherman likes to shop for clothes. For drinks, he recommends L’Escale Restaurant and Bar. Swill is his favorite wine. Mickey has versatile taste buds, whether it’s enjoying an exquisite dinner at the Valbella Restaurant in Greenwich or burgers and hotdogs at Hubba Hubba in Stamford. So, the next time you’re in Hubba Hubba and see a bunch of people milling around an unidentified individual, laughing uncontrollably, stealthily approach the throng in order to identify the center of attention. No, it is not Bozo the Clown! It is probably someone much funnier, looking
very stylish and debonair after having just gotten a trim at the John Thomas Hair Salon in Darien: The very down-to-earth class clown Mickey Sherman, nibbling on some crispy golden French fries in between telling jokes.
Mickey enjoys relaxing at home with his family in Greenwich, be it lounging in the den and eating his favorite dessert, fudge chocolate chip cookies, surfing the web, talking on the phone, or watching television. His wife, Lis Wiehl, a Harvard University Law School graduate, is on TV hours per day and on the radio 2 hours per day as the cohost of the O’Reilly Radio Factor . “I have to drag her out to see a movie,” confesses Mickey. “Her guilty pleasure is watching ‘Lifetime Movies’ when she is not writing her own books. She is the author of “Winning Every Time,” “The 51% Minority” and the upcoming fiction release, “Face of Betrayal”
The recently deceased actor Paul Newman, who established charities and gave away millions of dollars, was the most inspirational person in Mickey Sherman’s life. Mickey expressed “He was a citizen of the world, the last classy movie star, and was married to the same woman for 50 years. Paul Newman dedicated his life to helping others.” All joking aside, Mickey Sherman has dedicated his life to helping others.