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Who

One of the city's most prominent defense attorneys, Hayes is the guy many important New Yorkers call when they find themselves in handcuffs at four o'clock in the morning.

Backstory

Hayes grew up in Jackson Heights and attended the University of Virginia and Columbia Law before working as an assistant DA in the Bronx. He then turned to private practice, first landing in the spotlight in the '80s when he represented the estate of Andy Warhol. (Hayes was later fired and forced to return more than a million in fees.) By the '90s, he'd emerged as one of the most popular celebrity lawyers in town, representing Robert De Niro (after a cameraman claimed De Niro had assaulted him); Anna Wintour (after her nanny claimed she'd suffered brain damage on the job); Tina Brown; and former police commissioner Bill Bratton. Hayes was contacted when P. Diddy and Jennifer Lopez were hauled downtown following a nightclub shoot-out in 1999. (When he arrived at the precinct, he found Lopez handcuffed to a steam pipe.) And it was Hayes who got the 3 a.m. call from Allen Grubman when his daughter, Lizzie Grubman, had her infamous Hamptons car crash in 2001. Other notable clients have included Si Newhouse, Richard Johnson, Maggie Rizer, and LL Cool J.

Of note

Hayes has become something of a political mover and shaker in recent years. A close friend of former Governor George Pataki, he pressed Pataki's cause to have Daniel Libeskind serve as the architect of the Freedom Tower and also represented a number of the families of police officers who died on Sept. 11th. Much less political—and much more lurid—was a case in 2005 that generated plenty of tabloid ink for Hayes and fellow criminal defense vet Bruce Cutler. The duo represented the notorious "mafia cops"—Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa—who were accused of working as mob hit men. Both men were convicted, although Judge Jack Weinstein ended up tossing out the verdict since the statue of limitations had expired. Prosecutors are appealing, and both men are in prison pending the appeal.

By the numbers

Hayes could be your attorney, too. His counsel doesn't come cheap, though: He commands $650 per hour. Watching him on TV—Hayes is a CourtTV regular—is still free.

In print

Hayes' 2006 autobiography, Mouthpiece: A Life In—and Sometimes Just Outside—the Law, was jam-packed with the depressing (he has spent decades of therapy to exorcise the memory of his father, a brutal alcoholic), the bizarre (he recounts how he accidentally ended up in bed with a transsexual), and the mundane (he takes Lexapro and Wellbutrin daily).

The look

Bespoke suits from England, handmade monogrammed shirts, expensive cufflinks, fedoras, and suspenders are all Hayes trademarks. He's such a clotheshorse that he's been known to accept expensive clothing in exchange for legal services.

Personal

He's married to Susan Hayes, a former model/actress who now works as a real estate agent at Corcoran. The have two kids and live in an East 81st Street townhouse designed by Alexander Gorlin.

True story

Hayes has a longstanding friendship with author Tom Wolfe: He was the inspiration for the thuggish lawyer Tommy Killian in Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities. Wolfe, in turn, wrote an introduction for Hayes's autobiography.