Silverman, Thompson, Slutkin & White Attorney Uses Real Life Courtroom Experience To Help Bring An Idea For A Legal Drama To CBS's Friday Night Line-Up

BALTIMORE, Sept. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Creston P. Smith, a veteran trial attorney with Baltimore's legendary defense firm Silverman, Thompson, Slutkin & White, was in his office when he got a call from his law school buddy Andy Elkin. Mr. Elkin is an agent with the Los Angeles powerhouse Creative Artists Agency (CAA). CAA is the top talent agency in Hollywood with Fortune magazine dubbing it as "the entertainment industry's most influential organization."

Mr. Elkin asked Mr. Smith if he would consult on a TV project one of his clients wanted to pitch to the networks. Mr. Elkin needed someone who knew the ins-and-outs of courtrooms, and could help create a tenacious lawyer/character who vigorously defended clients charged with very serious and high-profile crimes. The cases were to be complex, gritty and mirror real life.

Mr. Smith was happy to oblige and was the perfect choice for the project.

Mr. Smith has represented thousands of clients in State and Federal Court and prior to his tenure with Silverman, Thompson, Slutkin & White, served as an Assistant Public Defender in Baltimore City on the felony trial team. He and his well-known colleagues know courtrooms, clients and jails like the back of their hands. Having successfully tried some of this decades best-known cases, STSW was a wealth of life and death courtroom experience.

What bean as a pitch to networks has become the CBS series MADE IN JERSEY that debuts this Friday night on WJZ right after CSI. What's more, one of the leading characters in this legal drama is named "Creston," a nod to Mr. Smith legal skills and STSW's real life cases.

MADE IN JERSEY is a drama about a young working-class woman who uses her street smarts to compete among her pedigreed Manhattan colleagues at a prestigious New York law firm.  

Martina Garretti (Janet Montgomery) finds her firm's landscape challenging, but what she lacks in an Ivy League education she more than makes up for with tenacity and blue-collar insight. After just a few weeks, firm founder Donovan Stark (Kyle MacLachlan), takes note of Martina's ingenuity and resourcefulness, as does secretary Cyndi Vega (Toni Trucks).  With the support of her family, Martina is able to stay true to her roots as a bold, passionate lawyer on the rise. 

Jamie Tarses, Kevin Falls, Julia Franz and Mark Waters, who also directed the pilot, are the executive producers for Sony Pictures Television in association with CBS Television Studios.  Creator and co-executive producer Dana Calvo wrote pilot.

Mr. Smith, considered a "legal encyclopedia" and widely respected and sought out by his peers, was able to bring his vast trial experience and the experience of his fellow STSW attorneys to the pilot project. As for the Ivy League shenanigans and internal law firm scrapping depicted on the show, Mr. Smith says it's a far cry from what happens at STSW.

Mr. Smith added: "The legal tactics, strategy and ferocious defense of clients is based on my experience and is what STSW is known for. The pain the clients feel and tensions when someone's life is on the line are also real."

"As for the drama between the lawyers on the show, that's just good TV," he said.

About Silverman, Thompson, Slutkin & White
Silverman, Thompson, Slutkin & White is Baltimore's premier criminal defense and civil trial law firm, known nationwide for successful litigation of complex and high-profile cases. STSW has achieved extraordinary success for their clients across Maryland and throughout the United States. For more information about the depth and breadth of their services, please visit www.mdattorney.com.

SOURCE Silverman, Thompson, Slutkin & White