Trump trial of the millennium puts a spotlight on his legal team. Here are the pros and cons

Donald Trump's trial of the millennium won't just potentially cast a global spotlight on the host Treasure Coast town, but also on the Florida attorneys who will make up his legal team.

When Trump appeared in Miami federal court to plead not guilty on June 13, the former president was represented by Todd Blanche and Christopher Kise. Expectations are other attorneys will be added given what are likely to be complex and grueling legal proceedings in Fort Pierce.

So it's a question, seemingly out of a James Patterson or John Grisham novel, that reportedly is being posed to the state's top lawyers: Do you want to be on the team defending a former United States president accused of illegally possessing and handling some of the country's most guarded secrets?

Those considering taking Trump on as a client, lawyers say, will calculate the high-risk, high-reward case.

"It is a big deal," said Tallahassee criminal defense attorney Tim Jansen. "But it's kind of a double-edged sword, this case."

The pros and cons of a case that is a 'double-edged sword' for Florida attorneys

The bonanzas could include professional principle of unprecedented historical scale in defending what they may see, as Trump claims, an innocent defendant who has been indicted in a case of election interference.

Added stature in the legal community and invitations to teach law at top universities could be next. Then the fame — book and television deals could follow as they did for the defense team in the O.J. Simpson trial of the century.

The money's a plus, too, since Trump is a reported billionaire who is raising many millions of dollars and would have to pay handsomely. And in advance.

The downside is the scrutiny that intense attention will bring.

Every action, from motions to filings to jury selection to objections or not if there is a trial, will be dissected before an international audience. It is unclear how long this case will run, and it will be an all-consuming, singular focus for the attorneys working it.

There will be political blowback for them and their firms as Trump remains a uniquely polarizing figure, and a losing verdict could be unforgiving. There will be tension with Trump, who has had a revolving legal team.

And speaking of the client, he is also the leading Republican White House candidate and his stream of public, and at times contradictory, utterances will only make his defense more challenging.

"You've got a very high profile client who is very difficult to control. He's always going and speaking and making comments your team is stuck with those comments because they are admissible in court," Jansen said.

Ex-Florida Bar presidents say South Florida presents Trump with plenty of 'talented' lawyers to ask

That being said, attorneys say Florida has a deep bench of legal talent for Trump to approach with the offer to join his team, which lists respected veteran Kise, who served as Florida solicitor general while Jeb Bush was governor.

"South Florida has a very deep and talented criminal defense bar who handle extremely high-level matters," said Scott Hawkins, a West Palm Beach lawyer and former president of The Florida Bar.

The complexity of the case will require Trump to hire additional legal hands, said Gregory Coleman, a West Palm Beach attorney who also previously served as Florida Bar president.

Adding more lawyers to the case "is for balance," Coleman said, adding: "Mr. Trump tends to like to have different points of view from different lawyers before making decisions."

Trump arraignment: Ex-president pleads not guilty to federal charges at Miami courthouse

In addition, the workload required to defend against a federal indictment is overwhelming.

"When you're dealing with the government, they have endless resources," Coleman said. "They can over-lawyer a case, and you need bodies."

And by that, Coleman said, he doesn't just mean worker bees. The Trump indictment touches on so many topics it requires lawyers with a knowledge of politics and white-collar prosecution. "More than anything, it requires a good strategist," Coleman added.

Still, lawyers have said no to joining Trump's legal team

So far, though, it's just Blanche and Kise as others have said no to joining the former president's team.

"I know lawyers who have turned down the case, either because of their firm or they just didn't feel it was right for them at the time," said Jansen, who knows Kise well and has tried cases with him.

Media reports indicate some of the top Florida lawyers who have declined include Howard Srebnick, a law partner to Roy Black, best known for his successful defense of William Kennedy Smith on rape charges in Palm Beach County more than 20 years ago. Srebnick didn't return a phone call seeking comment.

Lawyers could decide not to represent Trump for a host of reasons. They include partners not wanting the case or just the overwhelming nature of the litigation, which could take up a lawyer's entire practice.

Trump trial: Does move to Fort Pierce make jury 'favorable' to former president?

"It's a lot of work," Coleman said. "Anytime you have the government and their depth in resources and the multi-legal and factual issues involved, it's not a simple case. There are a lot of moving parts."

Lawyers say finding attorneys deeply steeped in national security cases or the Espionage Act, under which Trump is charged, is not a necessity.

"There aren't a whole lot of national security cases down here, that's right," said Richard Serafini, a former federal prosecutor now working as a criminal defense attorney in Fort Lauderdale.

Serafini said that piece of the puzzle can be hired out of Washington, D.C., or another location.

"I don't think that should be a problem in assembling a defense team," he said.

Jansen agreed.

"If you're looking for a lawyer who only can do national security you're going to have a small field," he said.

He pointed out that the bigger need is to hire lawyers who "know how to try a case" from knowledge of the rules of evidence to understanding how to present the case to showing confidence to properly advising the client.

"Listen, as trial lawyers, and I've been doing this 38 years, you try cases that you have very little expertise but you get the expertise by going through it," Jansen said. "You're hiring a trial lawyer because they can try a case. A good trial lawyer is really skilled at learning new areas pretty quickly."

Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Trump trial will place his South Florida attorneys under a spotlight