From a purely unemotional and dispassionate point of view, if The Exalted One wants to appoint a fellow lawyer who defended an American traitor (despite the spin), and if it's within his purview to do so, why not?
The guy is qualified, right?
On that basis alone, the political fallout from selecting this attorney for that position should have a negative impact on His Holiness - that is, if the MSM reports it (which I doubt to any great extent).
I don't know much about the legal profession except to know that attorneys on either side of the legal battle are often friends and comrades. For those that practice trial law, they might get in there and legally rip the other attorney a new asshole, but it doesn't mean they don't stay friends.
They are able to separate their ideologies from their relationships.
From a less unemotional viewpoint, however, any attorney who volunteered to represent Lindh, our modern-day Benedict Arnold, should have his 'nads voided. Just because.