Keepin' It Real: Reality TV Star Lawyers (Part One)

Ever since the launch of MTV's landmark reality TV series The Real World in 1992, reality TV shows have gradually come to dominate the television airwaves with a variety of programs based on just about any topic you can dream up. Designing scenarios ranging from surviving on a deserted island to racing across the world to completing tasks such as singing, dancing, or cooking competitions, reality TV producers really have let their imaginations run wild.
 

With the instant success of reality TV, producers have aimed to cast the most eclectic and dynamic combinations of people in order to maximize the odds of drama erupting. Feeding into the stereotypical intellectual and cold persona that the media has created for lawyers, reality TV shows usually cast at least one attorney or legal professional, hoping that the unique individual will bring a new perspective to the mix of TV-worthy characters.

But who are these lawyers? Are they really the brainy, bitchy, and fearless people reality TV has made them out to be?

Despite the preconceived notions that casting and the public may have about lawyers, these up-and-coming professionals have their own motives for participating on such shows—motives that range from raising awareness about controversial issues and promoting organizations they support to living out their fantasies to just enjoying the thrill of the game and 15-minute fame.

Zack Cohen, a healthcare defense lawyer from Tallahassee, FL, must have been predestined for reality TV, as he accidentally fell into it and simply held on for the ride. While Cohen was a 2L at the University of Miami School of Law, he literally stumbled onto his first reality show. He was getting a drink at a bar in South Beach when a woman with a camera crew approached him. The woman just happened to be a participant on the reality show Single on South Beach, which profiled and followed around single women from the area. The two had fun hanging out all night on the beach, but the cool vibe was suddenly shattered when the cameras stopped rolling. The "supposedly single from South Beach" woman with whom he had spent the entire night flirting revealed that she was married with two kids. But hey, that's showbiz, right?

Strangely enough, the following year, in 2003, Cohen ran into a casting director from Single on South Beach who was casting for the then-new MTV show Room Raiders, a dating show in which three single men or women have their rooms inspected or "raided" by another single of the opposite sex (or same sex if it is a gay-themed episode). The raider does not meet or see any of the three singles and chooses to go on a date with one of them based on the contents and/or condition of his or her room.

After Cohen aced his audition, a guided tour of his home a la MTV Cribs, he appeared on the show in its 2004 Miami edition as a raider. Cohen even filmed the show in the days just before he sat for the bar exam, which he passed. After the show, Cohen and his chosen girl were supposed to go on a date, but the date never ended up happening—there were a few "conflicts of interest" between him and the types of girls on the show.

"I was ready to go take the bar [exam], and they were ready to go to the bar," Cohen said.

The following year, soon after he passed the Florida bar exam, Cohen stumbled upon a new reality TV opportunity at a local bar. There was an open casting call taking place near the bar for a new show called Most Eligible. The show was scouring the U.S. to find the most eligible man and woman from each state for a huge competition in Las Vegas. After Cohen romanced the casting panel with his rendition of Boyz II Men's "On Bended Knee," the audition group was narrowed down, and he walked away with the winning title and a free trip to Las Vegas. Though the show was never financed for the final competition, Cohen had no trouble getting cast for his next reality TV appearance.

Yes, there is more.

While playing volleyball on a local beach in 2005, Cohen was approached by the casting directors of the NBC show Fear Factor, which had a recruiting tent set up at the nearby VolleyPalooza beach event. Cohen brushed off the offer to audition that day but, coincidently, was approached to audition by the same Fear Factor casting director when he was in Las Vegas months later (on the trip he won from Most Eligible).

Not doubting that strange twist of fate as a sign, he decided to audition.

<<Since the show was for couples only and he had no girlfriend, Cohen recruited his fellow attorney and good friend Angela (whom he jokingly calls "Mangela") to pose as his girlfriend for the show. The faux couple was cast and appeared on the season premiere of the show in 2006. After they survived a terrifying helicopter stunt, crawled through raw sewage, rats, and tarantulas, and repeatedly swam to the bottom of a pool to retrieve gold bars from a truck, the two won the million-dollar prize. Competing against two very athletic people, Cohen and Angela did not expect to come out on top like they did.

"It was like David and Goliath. We had the upper hand the last challenge because they didn't know how to swim," said Cohen.

Although Cohen is now a reality TV veteran, he still warns that one should approach reality TV "intellectually and with skepticism."

"Especially as a lawyer, don't sign your life away—every contract is negotiable," he said.

Reality show appearances can hurt a lawyer or another professional monetarily, physically, or reputation-wise. Despite that fact, Cohen has only seen positive effects of his appearances. He frequently uses them as conversation pieces, and his experiences have ultimately boosted his business.

Other lawyers, like estate planning attorney Mirna Hindoyan, have used reality shows as opportunities to fulfill their dreams. When The Amazing Race first aired in 2001, Hindoyan was "captivated by the show's opportunity to take average, everyday people and let them live out their dreams and travel," she said.

As a native Armenian born in Aleppo, Syria, who came to the States when she was two years old, Hindoyan and her family traveled extensively, encouraging her to always explore and experience the world around her.

"I have a great appreciation for the many cultures that my family has embraced," she said.

<<From the moment she was drawn into the show, Hindoyan began searching for a person to be her teammate. Having graduated from law school by the age of 23, Hindoyan had an aggressive mindset on which she was ready to capitalize to tackle the show.

"Everyone thought it was crazy. I always dream big," she said. It took her two years before she found the perfect teammate: her cousin, Charla Baklayan Faddoul.

After the team underwent a grueling interview process and extensive mental and personality testing, the show cast them, raving that they loved the way the two cousins' personalities meshed. As soon as they were cast, Hindoyan began training mentally and physically. She hit the gym and brushed up on her geography and foreign languages, although she was already fluent in Armenian, Turkish, and French. She also wrapped up more than 50 cases in the six weeks before she began filming, a "really strenuous task."

Hindoyan and Baklayan Faddoul appeared on The Amazing Race 5 and were immediately pegged as the underdogs of the competition. The team of cousins became notorious because of Baklayan Faddoul's dwarfism, which easily could have led to their demise, but they were able to persevere through seven of the 13 legs of the race.

After the cousins' appearance on the four-time Emmy Award-winning show, they were invited for various primetime appearances and interviews. The team participated in an Amazing Race parody on MAD TV, and they later competed on Battle of the Network Reality Stars for Bravo TV. There, they were eliminated as a team, but Hindoyan was able to make a comeback on her own in the winning team. This was a big deal for her since she had been so closely identified with her cousin, rather than as a strong individual.

"I was able to prove myself individually and be my own person," she said.

In 2007, the team came back with a vengeance for the 11th season of The Amazing Race, The Amazing Race: All-Stars. This time, they made it to the final episode, which took them on a wild ride from Guam to Hawaii to San Francisco in a race against the other two remaining teams. Despite their excellent strides in the game this time, they came in third.

Hindoyan is proud of her time on reality TV, but she is still grounded in her outlook toward it.

"A lot of people want to make it in Hollywood after reality TV. This is not my career; it's more like the icing on the cake," she said. Although her stints on reality TV have been filled with positive and memorable experiences and exposure, Hindoyan will be the first person to admit that the genre is a double-edged sword.

"There's a lot of mental manipulation in reality TV. Through the storytelling and fabrication that comes with reality TV, I was always put in an aggressive role—the 'nobody will mess with me' image," she said. "But I can't complain."