Lawyer finds the right note with hobby
Attired in sharply creased suits and perfectly tied ties, by day he deals in writs and reason.
Come night, he dons polos and Dockers, and dabbles in riffs and rhythm.
Meet Kevin Flaherty — Butler County's chief public defender and lead singer for the cover band House Arrest.
“I have a passion for both — practicing law and singing,” he says. “But I make money in the law. That's my living.
“Singing. That's just a hobby. I'm not some professional. It's fun.”
The fun, he admits, comes from being able to channel his inner rock star.
“He's a great entertainer” is Butler County Judge Tim McCune's verdict.
Flaherty's former band played at McCune's 35th high school reunion at the VFW in Lyndora.
“He had the whole audience, a bunch of 53-year-olds, dancing,” McCune said.
County District Attorney Richard A. Goldinger has caught Flaherty's moonlighting act a number of times. He, too, is impressed.
He's also impressed with the courtroom crooner's day job.
“Kevin diligently represents his clients and genuinely tries to do the right thing,” says Goldinger.
But the 59-year-old Flaherty of Cranberry Township was no overnight sensation to either craft.
Like many in his generation, Flaherty was influenced by two major events.The Beatles' invasion got him interested in music, and the presidency and the assassination of John F. Kennedy piqued his curiosity in American history and social studies.Still, music was largely a spectator sport while growing up in Lorain, Ohio, and attending Catholic schools.“I was never in any bands in schools,” he said. “The nuns had all of us sing but that's about all. I never really sang in the church choir or anything.”Thanks to television shows like “The Defenders” and “Perry Mason,” coupled with his interest in history, the law for a moment or two caught his attention.“I don't think I ever thought about pursuing it as a career through college,” Flaherty said. “But it may have been in the back of my mind that if I got a degree I could always try law school.”
Flaherty's decision to attend Kent State University would prove to be a serendipitous twist of fate.In 1971 and 1972, he made the football team and later won his letter as a kicker.But, “I was terrible,” he insists. “They retired my number because they couldn't get the egg stains off it.”Lack of big-time college ability aside, he had a sideline seat to witness his school's greatest ever football season.In 1972, Kent State won its only conference championship.Look closely at the team photograph and you'll see Flaherty; he's seated between linebacker Jack Lambert and defensive back Nick Saban.Yes, that Jack Lambert, the NFL Hall of Famer who starred for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and that Nick Saban, now Alabama's renown head football coach.During one summer camp Flaherty roomed with Lambert.“He was a great guy,” Flaherty remembered. “Dedicated. Focused. Driven.”By the way, on that same team was current Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel.And who was Kent State's head coach that year? Don James, who would later be elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, primarily for his coaching career at the University of Washington.While at Kent State, Flaherty and some of the other football players would start a business that provided security at concerts and other events.One of those colleagues and still friend, Bob Bender, would later become a bodyguard for the Rolling Stones.
The University of Pittsburgh would eventually award Flaherty a bachelor's degree in secondary education.In the mid-1970s, he briefly worked as an adult probation officer in Ohio. Later, he got into sales for an insurance company and a trucking firm.He also served as a substitute in the Penn Hills School District.But none of those jobs held the promise for fulfilling employment for Flaherty.“I really didn't enjoy sales,” he said. “And, back then, pay wasn't that good for teachers.”Married to his first wife and about to welcome new additions to the family, Flaherty found himself at a fork.He took the road less traveled.“For everyone,” he says, “there are only two things that drive you. One is inspiration. The other is desperation.“In my case, it was probably more desperation.”At the age of 32, he entered Duquesne University School of Law, enrolling in its night school. His days were spent working sales full-term.Flaherty became a father for the second time in 1984, his first year in law school. His third child came a year later.“It was tough,” he says of simultaneously being a father, husband, full-time salesman and law student. “Being able to put in the study time was hard.”At Duquesne, he wasn't alone. Among his fellow classmates juggling multiple obligations was Dwayne Woodruff, whose full-time job was defensive back for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“It was hard to catch on,” he said, “because of the analytical way they want you to think. Once I caught on, it wasn't so bad.”Four years after he began, he earned his law degree. On his first try, he passed the Pennsylvania bar examination.He immediately snatched up a position that happened to be open in the Allegheny County Public Defender's office.Six months later, Flaherty would cut his prosecutorial teeth doing general trial work for the Allegheny County District Attorney's office.The large team of prosecutors with him included attorneys who would later gain acclaim in the Legislature: state Sen. Jane Orie, a former majority whip; state Rep. Mike Turzai, the majority leader; and state Rep. Frank Dermody, the minority leader.Two other former staffers, Eric Woltshock and Mike Pawk, would have a profound influence on Flaherty's musical and legal careers.Woltshock, still an Allegheny County Deputy DA, is a fellow member of House Arrest. He also was in Flaherty's previous band.Pawk, a Butler attorney, in 2002 introduced Flaherty to Butler County President Judge Thomas Doerr.That introduction would eventually pave the way for Flaherty's move to Butler County for his job as first assistant public defender after 12 years in private practice.That first post was created after consultants from Washington, D.C., recommended the county public defender's office should be staffed with full-timers, including a full-timer who would be responsible for administering the office.Richard E. Goldinger, then the chief public defender, had a busy private practice and wasn't interested in working full time for the public defender's office,“In a lot of ways,” Flaherty said of landing the job, “right place, right time. I was very, very lucky.”In 2007, he took over the office after being tabbed to succeed Goldinger, who retired.Flaherty, in heading the PD's office, manages a staff of four assistants and handles cases in DUI and enforcement courts. He also regularly represents defendants at preliminary hearings before District Judge Dave Kovach in Cranberry Township.“I like being in court,” he says. “I never wanted to be only an administrator, a paper pusher. Now I get the best of both worlds. I'm an administrator and in court. I'm like a player-manager for a great team.”
Flaherty's foray into anything more than shower singing began in the early-1990s while a part of Allegheny County's legal community.He would reveal his talent during the Allegheny County Bar Association's annual Bench-Bar Conference, a three-day festival of golf and fellowship in June at Seven Springs Mountain Resort.“Some of the judges and attorneys would do a singalong,” he says, “and they brought me up to join in.”His voice was soon in demand at Irish-themed events and funerals.He recalls singing at one particular funeral, that for Lt. Patrick McNamara, a 29-year veteran of the Pittsburgh police force.A longtime president of the Fraternal Order of Police and beloved outside police circles for his charity work and community service, McNamara died in 1995.“It was a big funeral with the Mounties and everything. I sang ‘Danny Boy,' at the grave.”Years later and unexpectedly, while tuned to the late Dave Hoerth's radio talk show in Pittsburgh, Flaherty would learn the lasting impression he left that day.“People were calling in to talk about some of he most touching moments or touching things that they'd ever experienced,” he recollects. “People mentioned the ‘Miracle on Ice' in 1980 when the Americans beat the Russians, and other different things.”One call left him stunned and humbled.“Some guy called in and mentioned someone had sung ‘Danny Boy' at Pat's grave site, and he remembered how impressed he was. I happened to be listening to the radio and I was thinking, ‘Wow, that was me.'“I'm not saying I could win ‘American Idol' or anything,” he says, “but that made me feel kind of good.”He credits his daughter Carly for convincing him eight years ago that he had what it took to join a band.Her future father-in-law had been in a band in high school and he wanted to start something up again. His band needed a singer.“My daughter said, ‘Dad, you sound pretty good when you sing in the car. Why don't you try it?'“One thing led to another and here I am three bands later with the group I'm with. It's a good hobby. It's a lot of fun.”Like the two prior bands, Second Shift and City Rhythm, the six-member House Arrest specializes in classic rock, southern rock, Motown and rhythm and blues.Songs by the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Van Morrison and Delbert McClinton are among his bands' playlist.While House Arrest only recently took root, Flaherty says he expects the band to perform a couple times a month, primarily at bars, restaurants and night clubs in and around Pittsburgh.“But,” he says, “I'd like us to do more gigs in Butler County.”Once a week or so the group practices, usually in one member's' garage.
Flaherty sees commonality in his day job and his favorite hobby.“You have to deal with personalities in the office and in the band. You have to make sure everyone blends in and everybody gets the chance to do something,” he says.“Everybody has a role and everyone knows what their role is. That's the way my office is and that's the way the band is.”What helps both endeavors, he admits, is the talent that surrounds him — on and offstage.“I'm very, very lucky to have an excellent staff of attorneys in my office,” he says, “and an excellent bunch of musicians in the band.”
What makes an effective criminal attorney?Kevin Flaherty, Butler County chief public defender, believes he has the answer.“It's the ability to get along with people,” he said, “and you have to be willing to negotiate. Compromise is a big part of it.”Since the upper 90 percent of cases end in plea bargains, he said, attorneys have to be skilled negotiators.Flaherty said “client control” is another key skill of the successful lawyer.“You have to be able to control your client,” he said. “You can't let your client be doing a bunch of ridiculous motions or calling for delays.“You don't give your client false hope. Part of what you should be doing for them is presenting the cases in a responsible way, to let them know what their chances are, what their options are.”Convincing a defendant that the best option is a less-than-perfect plea deal at times becomes a tough sell.“The easiest thing in the world would be to go to trial. But how are you helping your client by doing that?” he asked.“These juries aren't coming in here with the idea that they want to acquit somebody. It's the other way around and everybody knows that.”Flaherty noted that most clients heed his counsel.“They realize that they're in a damage-control situation and if they get an offer that they can live with,” he says. “Ultimately they take it.”
<B>Age:</B> 59<B>Address: </B>Cranberry Township<B>Family: </B>Wife, Patty; children, Erin, 28; Carly, 26; Conor, 25; stepchildren Ryan, 30, and Jenni, 26; two grandchildren<B>Employment: </B>Butler County chief public defender; adjunct professor at Duquesne University School of Law<B>Education: </B>B.A. in secondary education, University of Pittsburgh; juris doctor, Duquesne University School of Law<B>Political career: </B>director and president of the Penn Hills School Board; ran for state Superior Court in 1997, won the primary but lost the general election; ran for Allegheny County judge in primary, but lost.<B>Interests: </B>Singing with his band, golfing, reading and playing with his grandchildren.<B>Quote:</B> “I’m very, very lucky to have an excellent staff of attorneys in my office, and an excellent bunch of musicians in the band.”
