The truth is, William Ginsburg has always had a nose for high-profile lawsuits (hell, Liberace was a client). But in January 1998, Ginsburg, a medical malpractice attorney by day, took on the case of one Monica S. Lewinsky, and high-profile took on new meaning. By that spring, Ginsburg was a staple on the nightly news and the punch line to endless late-night TV jokes. And when the press reported that Lewinsky had dumped him in favor of two veteran D.C. insiders, he became one of the most publicly jilted lawyers in history. JD Jungle recently spoke with Ginsburg to hear his thoughts, two-plus years hence, on what he calls “the Washington situation.” Among his humble reflections: He nobly defended the Constitution.

JD It’s been more than two years since the Lewinsky scandal. What’s been the effect on your career?

WG There’s been positive and negative. There are people who think of me as being a bit of a clown and a publicity seeker. And there are those who think of me as a fair-minded, aggressive individual who had great insights and understandings of the Constitution and the workings of government—a defender of our freedoms.

JD You’re with a new firm.

WG I changed firms about a year after I got back from Washington. I founded my old firm and nurtured it for many years, but they were grown up and ready to be on their own, and they no longer approved of what their dad was doing. Either you’ve got to push the kids out of the nest or they force you out. I chose to take the high road. I gave them my blessings, and I left.

JD Has the Lewinsky case affected how juries see you?

WG Part of the voir dire now is asking the jury if they recognize me and, if they do, what their view of me is. Interestingly, in the 20 or 30 or 40 cases I’ve had since my return from Washington, only two jurors have said they can’t stand me. And the two—to me, anyway—had definite opinions about President Clinton.

JD You took a beating in the press for the way you handled the case. Was the media unfair?

WG I was treated unfairly just as every politician and every person who comes into the international limelight is mistreated. They chew you up, eat you up, spit you out, and have fun doing it—I guess that’s their job.

JD But unlike Monica, or even Linda Tripp, you’ve never tried to rehabilitate your image through a high-profile public confession.

WG I can’t speak my piece because of attorney-client privilege, but what I can say is this: By appointing Ken Starr, this country came close to driving a hole in the Constitution large enough to push a 747 through. Ken Starr turned this into sexual McCarthyism. He was sex phobic, and he was interested in making a name out of his investigation rather than really solving an American problem. He should have left the president alone. It was merely a sexual situation. It had nothing to do with the roots of government.

JD In June 2000, Gore campaign adviser Bill Daley appeared on all of the major Sunday-morning talk shows, and people referred to that as the “full Ginsburg.” How do you feel about that term?

WG I was a transient, so it was easy for Washington journalists to attack me for attempting to get my message out. But ultimately, you’re judged by history, by people who have a more analytic, long-term view.

JD So, how do you feel you’ll go down in the history books?

WG I think I’ll be judged as an individual who stood up for his client, and stood up for his country, and stood up for his president.