Ever Lose a Federal Case So Badly That You Need to Sue Your Own Former Lawyers?

Most people who lose a federal criminal case and are sentenced to a dozen years behind bars, it should be noted, don’t get an opportunity to take revenge on the the legal team they’re convinced must have failed them. But then again, most people are not Todd or Julie Chrisley, the onetime reality TV stars of USA’s Chrisley Knows Best. The blonde, vain family of suburban Atlanta socialites was torn asunder by the 2022 conviction of both Chrisley parents on a wide swath of fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy charges, only to see themselves delivered from prison in 2025 by a stroke of President Donald Trump’s pardon pen … despite the fact that it was his own Justice Department that leveled the original 2019 charges against the Chrisleys of bilking banks out of more than $36 million.

But who gives a shit about massive financial crime convictions, when daughter Savannah Chrisley apparently learned to play ball well enough in the interim to exact one of Trump’s freely accessible (to certain tax brackets) pardons? Both of the Chrisleys found themselves free in May of 2025, and were immediately (of course) back in the recording studio producing a series for Lifetime, The Chrisleys: Back to Reality. And now? They get to sue their own former lawyers for the indignity of losing their federal case in the first place.

Reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley are accusing one of their former defense attorneys of legal malpractice that they say led them to be convicted and imprisoned.

[image or embed]

— NBC4 Washington (@nbcwashington.com) 2:05 PM · Jun 9, 2026

“They were prosecuted because they were celebrities,” said attorney Alex Little of the original convictions that Trump decided to handwave. “They were treated more harshly because of their status. And that’s not the way our criminal justice system is supposed to work.”

Ah yes, because as we all know, if you or I was convicted of $36 million in bank fraud, we would receive far more lenient, less harsh sentences on account of the fact that none of us have our own television series. Right? Celebrities famously get more harsh sentences than we everyday folk.

The new lawsuit that Todd and Julie Chrisley are launching against their former defense attorneys, meanwhile, seeks $25 million and claims it was the negligence of their legal representation that landed them in prison, rather than say, all of the crimes that they did. They amusingly call the trial they were involved in “one of the most consequential federal criminal prosecutions in the country,” and complain in particular that their attorney Christopher Anulewicz of the firm Balch & Bingham “had no meaningful criminal defense experience,” only taking on the case because it would bring “publicity, and the kind of high-profile notoriety that brings in business.” Check out these choice cuts from the lawsuit:

“They served time in federal prison. They were separated from each other and from their children. They lost their television show and endorsement deals, costing them more than $25 million in income. Their reputations were destroyed. A lawyer with actual criminal defense competence, supervised by a firm that took its professional obligations seriously, would never have let this happen.”

Truly, only a pair shameless enough to ultimately be pardoned by the likes of Donald Trump could, with a straight face, level such allegations against their own former lawyers, calling them inexperienced and incompetent, while ignoring the fact that YOU HIRED THESE PEOPLE TO REPRESENT YOU, TODD! Why, facing 12 federal counts against you, did you choose to hire someone you now say has “no meaningful criminal defense experience”? Can you truly, genuinely believe that such an admission does not make you look like an idiot? Is that possible, for someone to be so delusional? Or is this just good old-fashioned sociopathy?

Savannah Chrisley, who hosts a podcast, increased her public presence following her parents’ incarceration. A vocal #Trump supporter, she spoke at the RNC last year & also visited the White House in Feb to lobby for a #pardon for her family members.

#criminal #law #plutocracy #kleptocracy

— Nonilex (@nonilex.masto.ai.ap.brid.gy) 9:10 AM · May 28, 2025

I suppose we lean toward the latter, given that both Chrisely adults have at times attempted to throw themselves on the mercy of the powerful by acting contrite over their crimes, only to now completely reverse direction and claim (because they were pardoned) that they were never guilty in the first place. Suffice to say, that’s not the song Julie Chrisley was singing in 2024 when her 7-year sentence was upheld. Back then, she wanted everyone to know that “I’ve had years to think about what I’ve wanted to say and I’m sorry for my actions and situations that led us to where we are today. I’ve had 20 months in prison, but it has been much more leading up to the trial and I apologize for my actions that led to where we are today.” Now that is some carefully worded bullshit, right there.

The whole Chrisley family affair is as ugly as it is stupid, involving at various points Todd and son Chase being accused by his daughter Lindsie from a prior marriage of trying to blackmail her with a sex tape, only for Lindsie to later recant that claim. Don’t worry; I’m sure more accusations of affluent shitbaggery will emerge before too long.

Now that the Chrisleys walk among us once again, ready to take their own lawyers back to court, we should probably be thankful that Trump’s attempt to establish a $1.8 billion “weaponization” slush fund in partnership with his own DOJ and IRS seems to have collapsed under the weight of its own corruption. Because you know there would have been a line of blonde Chrisleys queuing up otherwise, hands out, seeking compensation for the pain they’ve suffered for being rich and famous. I guess they’ll have to settle for merely possessing whatever prize cash comes with the title of being the Most Irritating American Family.