Keith R. Fisher, a financial regulatory lawyer at Ballard Spahr, originally served as an adviser to the filmmakers of Cleveland vs. Wall Street on banking law details. But he wound up as the "heavy," arguing the banking industry's case in the mock trial.
But Mr. Fisher, whose previously had helped create a video for the American Bar Association about the judicial branch, saw it differently. "My goal in taking the role was to try to get across to the jury just how nuanced and complex the crisis was," Mr. Fisher told the ABA Journal. "We all know lawyers have an obligation to represent people who may be less sympathetic, and I strongly believe in that philosophy." Besides, he said, "there's plenty of blame to go around about what happened."