After graduating from Maryland's law school, he clerked for a judge, then became a federal prosecutor, eventually working as an assistant attorney general for Maryland.
But he made his mark when he switched to defense. That early career was marked by two significant public corruption cases. He represented a man in legal trouble who got a deal after offering up evidence on Spiro Agnew. The information contributed to a case that took down the country's 39th vice president
Later he represented Gov. Marvin Mandel, initially losing the case but ultimately persuading a U.S. District Court judge to overturn the conviction.
More recently, he has focused on trying to get money back for investors or institutions that have gone through bankruptcy, a specialty he honed after representing Merry-Go-Round, a Baltimore clothing store that went bankrupt while following advice from accounting giant Ernst & Young.
The accounting firm settled for a near-record $185 million, netting Weiner's firm $71 million in fees.
He's a bit of a man-about-town; Weiner's name has appeared in The Sun's society pages, attending charity galas, participating in panel discussions and leading discussions on films.
But the fighter in him on display Friday is "about a millimeter below the surface," he said.
None of his three children became lawyers. His elder daughter teaches photography, his son works in city real estate and his youngest child, Deborah Weiner, anchors WBAL-TV's weekend news show.
He allows his three grandchildren to roam around the office, according to a profile in Maryland Super Lawyers (he was on the cover in 2007), he adores football and baseball games and reads voraciously.
Over time, he has acquired an interest in amateur photography and has taken courses at the Maryland Institute College of Art.
Friends include poet Maya Angelou and Eugene Cassidy, a Western District police officer who Weiner photographed over a period of years for a book they plan to publish together.
His life's work with the law is more passion than vocation.
"I would practice law for a hobby if I didn't do it as a profession," Weiner said.
BIG CASES
Gov. Marvin Mandel
Defended Mandel in federal court against accusations of accepting gifts and bribes from racetrack investors in return for his influence. Mandel was convicted of mail fraud and racketeering in 1977 and served 19 months in prison. President Ronald Reagan commuted his sentence, and a U.S. District Court judge overturned Mandel's conviction in 1987.
Rep. Edward A. Garmatz
Defended Garmatz in a federal bribery and conspiracy case. It was dismissed in 1978 after prosecutors discovered that their key witness had lied to a grand jury and forged documents.
Joseph C. Schultz
Represented Schultz, a 20-year-old Anne Arundel County man who won $1.3 million from the FBI. An agent mistook Schultz for a bank robber and shot the unarmed man in the head with an M-4 assault rifle.
Merry-Go-Round clothing store
As part of a team of attorneys, took on accounting firm Ernst & Young in a precedent-setting case that netted a $185 million settlement in 1999.
ARNOLD M. WEINER
Born: December 1933 in Baltimore
Family: Wife, Arleen; children Ellen Stern, Barry Weiner, Deborah Weiner; three grandchildren
Education: University of Maryland, University of Maryland Law School
Career highlights: Clerk to U.S. Court of Appeals Chief Judge Simon E. Sobeloff; Assistant United States Attorney for District of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland; Principal/President of Melnicove, Kaufman, Weiner & Smouse; Principal at the Law Offices of Arnold M. Weiner, Baltimore
