I Stumbled Upon an article a few weeks back about “celebrity lawbreakers”. It was a blog that was obviously meant to be humorous regarding those celebrities who have either been caught driving while under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol or caught with their proverbial knickers down in an undercover prostitution sting. There is something about watching the rich and famous tumble from great heights that really grabs the attention of the American public. Here in Hollywood, even with celebrity sightings everywhere, Los Angelinos are still gripped to the television when celebrity criminal cases go to court.
As a Hollywood defense attorney I don’t really make a distinction between celebrities and the “average” citizen–mostly because I know better. As a former prosecutor I have seen it all. I’ve seen people at their best, their worst, and their most vulnerable. When I see celebrity mugshots like those in the blog I was describing I don’t smirk. I don’t smile. I see someone who made a mistake, an error in judgment, or (in many cases) someone with some serious inner demons they are battling.
Celebrities are no different than anyone else when it comes to legal issues. They face the same set of consequences as you or I. The only difference is that they have more people “advising” them on how they should handle their court case. And as you can see from certain Not To Be Named starlets their advisers don’t always give them the best advice. A good Hollywood defense attorney, someone like myself who also worked in the prosecutor’s office, uses the same tools and techniques as the more high profile attorneys. When you hire an attorney like myself you are getting the same exact service as celebrities get with their higher priced attorneys. Don’t look at an attorney’s rate or office location to determine who should represent you, look at their track record. How successful has he or she been? Does he or she treat you with respect? Do you get a good vibe from him or her?
An attorney’s rates do not necessarily correlate with their abilities. There are some cheaper attorneys with no experience and some higher priced attorney’s who can’t offer any better service than the moderately-priced attorneys. The fact is that certain starlets who we won’t name didn’t get preferential treatment by the courts. It was neither better nor worse than what you might receive on your DUI case. She just paid her lawyer a whole lot more than you would.
