From Courtroom to Camera, Advocacy Fuels Brian Buckmire’s Drive for Justice

A public defender with the Legal Aid Society of New York City, Buckmire ’14L is also the host of “Law & Crime Daily.”

BY JEFF HANNA

Network,” Buckmire said. “We were talking one day, and she told me she’d seen me in court and thought I’d be good on TV. I told her she was crazy, but that I’d try it.” so you and others can change what’s happening. If someone is going to give you a bigger platform to do that, why not take it?’ ” be on because it’s ruining his life. You just hope you’re not going to see that person again.”

BRIAN BUCKMIRE ’14L was chatting with a fellow attorney in a Brooklyn courtroom one day when, out of the blue, she asked if he’d like to be on TV.

That was early in 2019. Buckmire had been working as a public defender with The Legal Aid Society in New York City for four years and had just been named the youngest attorney on its homicide defense task force.

“I’d developed a friendship with a private defense attorney who was one of the hosts on the Law and Crime

Before long, Buckmire was making regular appearances on the Law and Crime Network and several ABC news shows. He became a regular contributor with a range of assignments — from reporting on the Harvey Weinstein rape trial to hosting “Justice & Peace,” which premiered in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder. In November 2020, Buckmire was named lead host of “Law & Crime Daily.”

It was not how Buckmire imagined his career unfolding.

“I was of the mindset — you’re a public defender. You’re on the front lines, and if you don’t have dirt and blood and mud on your face at the end of the day, then you’re not really a public defender,” he said. “My wife opened my eyes when she told me, ‘What you do is advocacy. You tell people what’s going on in the court

In a June 2020 “Justice & Peace” episode about Elijah McClain, the 23-year-old Black man who died after being placed in a chokehold by police in Colorado, Buckmire tearfully related a conversation with his 20-year-old brother: “He said, ‘Brian, you’re my older brother. You’re a lawyer. You’re on these TV shows. How do I not become a hashtag?’ And I don’t even have the answers for him. It becomes a situation where you can’t even say, ‘Do this, and do this, and you’ll be okay.’ Because you watch this, and there’s no answer.”

Buckmire gained six acquittals in six jury trials, including one for attempted murder, and has won several bench trials. “You usher clients through this process and have a real effect on people’s lives,” he said. “Of the cases I’ve done so far, what’s most impactful is helping a drug addict get off this substance that he doesn’t really want to