Trevor Potter Feels the Colbert Bump! | Colbert News Hub

Washington Lawyer Born in Chicago is Tasting True Celebrity, Thanks to Colbert Bump.

A native of Chicago, Trevor Potter is a buttoned-down Washington lawyer who has advised Republican presidential candidates from George H.W. Bushto John McCain.

But Potter, 56, is now tasting real celebrity by trading banter — and giving legal advice — to comedians Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart, all while injecting humor into the GOP nominating process.

——————

Potter said he was at a reception at the National Gallery of Art when a gray-haired man studying him asked, “Excuse me, aren’t you Stephen Colbert’s lawyer?”

“It’s not what I’m used to in Washington,” Potter said, chuckling.

Potter said Colbert met him through an attorney who had appeared on the program. “There is that cool factor to it, which is all a big surprise to me,” said Potter, now a presence on YouTube. “I did not appreciate the level of following (Colbert) has and the intensity until I got in it.”

Potter, with the Caplin & Drysdale law firm, said he has landed in “a funny double role” since he’s working as Colbert’s attorney and frequently guesting on his show to explain campaign-finance law.

The comedian’s genius, Potter said, is translating “what is inherently a complicated legal issue into a four- or five-minute description that causes even seasoned professionals to say, ‘Oh, now I get it.’”

Washington attorney Jan Baran, who has known Potter for years, noted that most lawyers have lower profiles. “How often,” Baran mused, “does a lawyer get to have some celebrity status that doesn’t involve a criminal client?”

Full Article: Chicago Tribune.