Jackson's new lawyer supports charitable causes

1.00pm

By Andrew Gumbel

Michael Jackson's new lawyer is a great believer in charitable causes. He has done heroic pro bono work on behalf of death-penalty defendants in the Deep South, and volunteers once a week to dispense free legal advice at one of Los Angeles' most prominent black churches.

It remains to be seen, however, whether Thomas Mesereau Jr chose to take on the case of the most eccentric man in showbusiness out of pity - or because he is guaranteed months of free publicity under the media spotlight and a hefty paycheck for his pains.

Mr Jackson, who is nothing if not unpredictable, turned to Mr Mesereau over the weekend, just days before he is due to be indicted and sent to trial on nine counts of child molestation. His previous high-profile lawyers, Mark Geragos and Benjamin Brafman, are high profile no more, at least not on his behalf.

All parties have remained tight-lipped about the reasons for the sudden change, and all say they continue to wish Mr Jackson well.

That, in turn, has stymied the horde of instant media pundits who would love to tell the world that the defence case is in trouble, or that the hottest showbiz lawyers in the business are at each others' throats, or that Mr Jackson is losing it.

As it is, they can't say any of those things, because the reason for the change could be as innocent as a trial scheduling clash, or an honest disagreement about courtroom strategy.

What one can say is that the change casts a light on the rarefied world of celebrity lawyers, an elite group who often stumble into the limelight by accident but then have a sure ability to keep themselves there as one entertainment-world prosecution follows swiftly on from another.

All are modelled on the members of the defence team in the seminal celebrity trial of the 24-hour news network era - the OJ Simpson case.

Benjamin Brafman is a friend and sometime colleague of Johnnie Cochran, the lead lawyer in the Simpson case.

Mr Brafman used to defend white collar criminals on Wall Street, but got his first taste of the celebrity world when he was invited to represent Sean Combs, also known as Puff Daddy, on bribery and weapons charges in 2001.

Mr Geragos, meanwhile, first came to national attention through his successful defence of Susan MacDougal, a key player in the Clinton-era Whitewater scandal. From her he moved on to the president's wayward brother, Roger Clinton, and the Democratic Party congressman Gary Condit, suspected but never formally accused of involvement in the disappearance of an intern with whom he was having an affair.

Mr Geragos was less successful in his defence of the actress Winona Ryder on shoplifting charges, and faces a steep uphill battle in the defence of murder suspect Scott Peterson, who has generated endless national headlines and expressions of moral outrage following the murder of his photogenic young wife and their unborn baby.

Mr Mesereau's most recent client was Robert Blake, a washed out film and television actor also accused of killing his wife. Mr Mesereau appeared to take pity on Mr Blake after he burned his way through two other lawyers appalled by his refusal to listen to their instructions. But Mr Mesereau finally threw in the towel too - citing "irreconcilable differences" with his client.

- INDEPENDENT