You are looking at everything strictly at face value: Fame = Money = Success = being on TV.
How about Effectiveness = protecting client's privacy = impressing other attorneys & professionals = lots of referrals?
I would rather look at if about effectiveness, Walker, however it's not always about that when it comes to cases such as these when attorneys come in. In a perfect world maybe, not this one though..
In such a high profile cases, it does attract attorneys who may seek fame and money, and they get a huge amount of publicity from the case itself being on interviews with reporters, and farther down the line if they are still "hired" in the courtroom possibly. I'm not a lawyer, so i can't speak for each and every one.
These cases are so well known, that the lawyers involved in them are getting a lot of publicity along with their firms. Publicity sells lawyers better than referrals do.
Referrals would be word of mouth. That would have to mean a lot of clients would refer them to others. I don't see how impressing other attorneys would factor in, as they'd be competeing for the same thing. So it wouldn't matter if they "impressed" other attorneys.
High profile cases garner the most publicity. Look at the OJ trial, his attorneys were household names.
If people don't have a personal lawyer they use for criminal or other matters, and they don't have a referral to one, (provided they have enough money to hire one) they may go with a law firm name they've heard or an attorney they have seen with a high profile case rather than flip through the phone book and pick our a name at random.
Just speaking from what i've seen in high profile cases such as these, if you look at Casey Anthony's case, or the Haleigh Cummings case (Ronald C.'s lawyers) you will see how they work. They have taken those cases pro bono, from what i know.
If Morgan's friends who were there that night had any reason to "lawyer up", we would have heard about it by now. From what we have heard, it sounds like they have been cooperating fully with LE and have no reason to lawyer up.