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RECORDINGS OF PELLICANO AND AN ATTORNEY MADE PUBLIC
Added: (Mon Aug 25 2008)
Los Angeles Times: In one of their first phone calls, the Divorce Lawyers Tampa
and his private investigator outlined in no uncertain terms one ground rule: Their discussions were to be strictly private.
In the end, however, their conversations were not at all confidential. That phone call and many other recordings were played in Los Angeles federal court this month, where the divorce attorney, Terry Christensen, and the private detective, Anthony Pellicano, are on trial for allegedly conspiring to wiretap billionaire Kirk Kerkorian’s former wife.
As Pellicano is a known sleuth-to-the-stars, with clients such as comedian Chris Rock and actor Tom Cruise, his legal problems has created interest in Hollywood circles. But his current trial is also being closely followed by Los Angeles' legal community because it thrusts into the limelight a type of relationship the public rarely sees: that of a divorce lawyer and his private investigator.
Some divorce attorneys recently have said the charges against Christensen have made them more alert about whom they hire and how they obtain their information.
"No case is worth your career," said Ron Litz, who often deals with vicious divorce or child custody battles in which vengeful clients want to go after their spouses by any possible means. "Now that we know that lawyers are going to be prosecuted for it like Terry Christensen, we know that we have to keep that in mind and be more careful than in the past."
"They would normally call you and say, 'I need A, B and C.' Now, it's 'I need A, B and C, and I need you to keep it on the up and up,' “he said. "They'll say, 'I want this all done legally, and I want no wink-winks.' "
The National Law Journal, a legal publication for Divorce attorneysTampa
, in an article earlier this year called Christensen's case a "wake-up call" for lawyers on how they use private investigators.
"Maybe it makes them a little more conscious in their instructions to investigators to make sure they observe the law," he said.
"Everybody scurries and becomes much more careful, and then eventually with time, people forget," said entertainment attorney Eric Weissman.
The rich and powerful will always want someone's head on the table, he said.
"They don't care how it gets there."