They're the group of online activists that carry out cyber ops

to advance social and political change.

And sometimes, they need a lawyer,

a really good lawyer.

At first glance, Jay Leiderman seems like a regular guy.

He lives in the suburbs, drives a fast car,

and is a self-professed Deadhead.

Oh, and he loves whisky.

But there's more to Jay's story

than immediately meets the eye.

When Jay sits down at the computer,

he's anything but average.

- I represent accused cyber criminals,

many of whom are either affiliated with Anonymous

or closely related groups.

- [Voiceover] And it all started with a tweet.

- [Jay] I sent out a couple tweets

giving attention to the fact

that I would take a pro bono case.

The next morning,

there was an email in my inbox from Commander X.

- [Voiceover] Commander X, a prominent member

of the hacktivist group Anonymous.

- Commander X was the first hacktivist I represented.

Once he felt that I was his lawyer,

he determined unilaterally

that I was the lawyer for Anonymous.

There are a number of encrypted chat-type programs

that I would prefer to use.

I like to keep the NSA guessing

with which method of communication I'm going to use

with the idea that perhaps

they can't monitor them all at once.

When someone contacts me, and I do not know who they are,

it's the most beautiful, purest form of conversation,

because there is absolutely no judgement on anything.

Over the computer, everyone is equal.

- [Voiceover] One of the hardest things

about representing Anonymous

is working around digital laws

that were written decades ago.

His main gripe is with the CFAA,

the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

- The penalties are outrageous.

It's a bad law. It's a broken law.

It's not something that fits with today's technology.

Sharing your Netflix password with your friends,

that could be a federal crime.

I hope that by helping hacktivists,

by pursuing these cases in the courts,

by continuing to keep the issues alive in the media,

that we can enact some degree of change.

I hope it's not just a few of us crazies

running through the wilderness.

(soft music)