Of course, Wood’s used to being noticed. No less a luminary than Dan Rather called the Atlanta-based lawyer “the attorney for the damned.” Editor & Publisher magazine labeled him “one of the most dangerous media-plaintiff lawyers in the United States.”
Both were meant as compliments.
But stripped of his aura of celebrity that’s part of the package when your client list includes John and Patsy Ramsey, Howard K. Stern, Richard Jewell, the mothers of Beth Holloway and Laci Peterson, Gary Condit and Katelyn Faber — aka the girl who accused NBA MVP Kobe Bryant of sexual assault — Wood is about as down-to-earth and straight-forward as a guy with his pedigree is bound to be.
In town to take part in the 23rd Lopez Hospice Golf Classic at Doublegate Country Club, Wood took time out Friday to do what he does best: go one-on-one with the media.
“For every television interview I’ve done, I’ve turned down 100,” Wood said. “I have no desire to be this big celebrity or media lawyer, this ‘attorney of the damned.’ Certainly, that kind of stuff is flattering, and I appreciate the recognition. But at the end of the day I’m just Lin Wood, a person who cares about his clients.”
Born in Raleigh, N.C., some 56 years ago, Wood was raised in Macon, moving to central Georgia with his family when he was 3. He earned his law degree at Mercer University’s Walter F. George School of Law and practiced in the city before accepting a position with the powerful Powell Goldstein LLP firm of Atlanta.
In Southwest Georgia, Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital and Phoebe Health Partners are among Wood’s clients. He represents the hospital in its much-publicized legal battles with Dr. John Bagnato and is defending local physician Jim Hotz in a case that involves the work of another well-publicized attorney, the currently imprisoned Richard “Dickie” Scruggs.
“My practice specializes in defending the reputations of individuals and corporations and vindicating them against false attacks,” Wood said. “What a lot of people don’t realize is that corporations are people, too. Yes, Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital is a health care facility, but it is made up of dedicated professionals who take pride in the jobs they do.
“Institutions like Phoebe and its employees deserve to have their reputations defended as well as any individual would.”
Count Phoebe CEO Joel Wernick among the believers.
“That’s why we sought the services of an attorney with the reputation that Lin has,” Wernick said before playing with Wood, Herald Publisher Mike Gebhart and attorney Tommy Chambless in a foursome at the Lopez tournament. “If you’re involved in a high-profile case that gets a lot of attention in the media, you want the person who does it best as part of your team.”
And Wood’s reputation certainly precedes him. He’s become the go-to guy in cases that tend to feed the media frenzy. Some of his most noted:
— Richard Jewell, a guard who was initially accused of the Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta: “Richard was a legitimate hero. He helped evacuate hundreds of people who could have been harmed by the bomb in Olympic Park and, unbeknownst to most people, when he saw the initial reaction of the agent who first saw the bomb, he risked his life by going through a five-story tower to make sure all the people there were evacuated. Richard should be remembered as a hero, but sadly, until his death he was remembered more as the person first accused of the bombing. He showed remarkable dignity and grace in the face of all that, and he was a dear friend to me.”
— Howard K. Stern, who was questioned in the death of Anna Nicole Smith: “Like many of my clients, the public has a gross misperception about Howard K. Stern. Of course, it didn’t help that they confused him with the shock jock, but he was not at all like he was portrayed in the media. He’s a down-to-earth good guy, a smart lawyer. He loved unconditionally Anna Nicole Smith and did nothing to deserve the treatment he got.”
— John and Patsy Ramsey, the parents initially accused in the death of their daughter, JonBenet Ramsey: “The sad thing about this case is that the brutal murder of his daughter was not the first tragedy John Ramsey had to go through. His oldest daughter, Beth, was killed in a tragic auto accident along with her fiancee in ’92; Patsy was diagnosed with stage-4 ovarian cancer in ’93, followed by the brutal murder of JonBenet in ’96. All that tragedy was followed by 10 years of false accusations about the torture, sexual assault and murder of their child. And the only evidence that ever linked them to the case is that they were asleep in the house (where JonBenet was killed) that night. There was never any evidence that linked them to the crime. One thing I’m glad of is that the Boulder (Colo.) DA exonerated the Ramsey family in the crime. And I know Patsy went to her grave with that truth in her heart.”
— Beth Holloway, mother of Natalee Holloway, the Alabama teen who was abducted during a senior trip to Aruba: “I represented Beth Holloway to help her deal with the outrageous stories that were printed about the circumstances surrounding her daughter’s disappearance. She was tremendously distressed, as you’d expect, and she’s still looking for answers. She’s clinging to the slim hope that her daughter is still alive.”
— Sharon Rocha, mother of the murdered Laci Peterson: “This case is similar to the one involving Natalee Holloway in that a number of articles were written in explicit detail allegedly about how her daughter was murdered. The media, particularly the tabloids, infringed on the privacy of a strong, dedicated mother.”
— Gary Condit, the U.S. congressman who was named as a suspect in the disappearance and murder of Chandra Levy in Washington, D.C.: “Gary was a person who could have used a lesson in public relations, but he really had no use for the media. He was a hard-working congressman who knew the issues and was popular with his constituents. He was accused of infidelity, which he never acknowledged, but the attention surrounded him because many in the media saw it as a continuation of the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinski scandal. Chandra was an intern like Lewinski, and when she went missing and Condit admitted to having a friendship with her, he got caught up in the media frenzy that followed. That lasted until Sept. 11, 2001, when the terrorist attacks ended the media’s interest and concern for Chandra Levy.”
— Katelyn Faber, a hotel employee who accused NBA star Bryant of sexual assault: “Due to a settlement with the victim, I’m not really allowed to comment on that case.”
The names in those cases were the subjects of hundreds of headlines and teleivision news stories, and as is the case in such high-profile incidents, many people tend to believe the media-fueled accusations levied against the principles. Wood, however, said he believes in his clients.
“I decided a long time ago that there were only so many hours in a day and so many years to get involved in these cases,” he said. “I will only represent people I believe in. It doesn’t make me a better person or lawyer — I admire those attorneys who will take on cases of people who confess or who they think are guilty, that’s necessary for our system to work — but that’s just my own personal belief.
“If I believe in my clients, it inspires me to use my God-given talents to best serve them.”
And while Wood is often characterized as a “celebrity attorney,” he says the cases of “everyday people” mean as much to him as those of the rich and famous.
“One of the last cases I tried before leaving Macon was a malpractice suit in which I defended three neurosurgeons,” he said. “It ended in a mistrail with an 11-1 vote in favor of the defendants. One of the doctors came to me when he found out I was moving to Atlanta and said if the case was retried, he wanted me back. That meant a lot.
“I was proud to help a 31-year-old stroke victim get some badly needed financial help, and I defended a man who, as I told the jury, might be ‘just a meatcutter’ to some, but he had also become my friend. That man told me while the jury was deliberating that it didn’t matter if he won his case or not, what I’d said meant as much to him as the outcome.”
Wood says he can’t remember a time when he did not want to be a trial lawyer, and that contention was solidified by a tragedy in his own family. After returning home from a date as a 16-year-old high schooler, he discovered that his father had beaten his mother to death.
“Even though my father had committed this hideous crime, he was still my father, and I remember how two spectacular lawyers — Manley Brown and Hank O’Neal (both of Macon) — had done everything they could to help my father,” Wood said. “They did it out of a desire, I think, to help me, but that lesson stayed with me.
“It confirmed what I’d felt all along, that this was my calling.”
Case closed.
