But in November 2003, Fields broke the news to me and a colleague that he had been questioned by federal investigators about his use of Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano in his legal practice. Fields also told us that he was the subject of a wiretap investigation, that he could be charged in Pellicano's alleged illicit wiretapping and spying.
Over time, the admission had a corrosive effect on Fields' firm -- Greenberg, Glusker, Fields, Claman, Machtinger & Kinsella. Several partners have since left -- including partner Dale Kinsella -- and the firm has hired a full-time lawyer to handle matters stemming from the wiretap investigation, which is probing whether high-powered lawyers used Pellicano's snooping to gain unfair advantage in lawsuits.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday May 14, 2006 Home Edition Current Part M Page 6 Editorial Pages Desk 1 inches; 56 words Type of Material: Correction
Bert Fields: A May 7 Current article about Hollywood lawyer Bert Fields implied that Fields had told the article's author that he could be charged in the Anthony Pellicano wiretap case. In fact, Fields said he was a subject of the investigation but did not say that he could be charged. That was the author's conclusion.
Fields' statements sparked a new wave of publicity about the Pellicano probe, which had moved to the back pages since bursting onto the scene in 2002 in connection with threats made against a Los Angeles Times reporter.
Fields reputedly was stung by what he saw as a media backlash against him. Perhaps he failed to see how his statements might reverse perceptions of him.
When the first indictments connected to the Pellicano wiretap case finally came down in February, many stories noted that the charges included references to people and events with links to Fields and his firm. Some stories read like premature obituaries of Fields. In fact, the first attorney charged was Terry Christensen.
Whether or not Fields is named in another round of indictments, his once sterling image has been tarnished. If he is indicted, the charges against him also would highlight an ugly underbelly of L.A. law in which winning is everything. Some attorneys have told me that the scandal has the potential to taint every Hollywood lawyer as a suspected cheater.
And then Tinseltown would truly be what everybody else already thinks it is -- a place where nobody can be trusted.
