Bert Fields

NOT SO long ago, Bert Fields was, simply, Bert Fields. He was the most famous lawyer in Hollywood, a celebrity in his own right. National magazines and newspapers uncritically profiled him. Variety and the Hollywood Reporter ran his photo when he showed up at red carpet premieres. The New York Post's Page Six noted who attended the dinners he gave at his Manhattan apartment, the abode that gave coastal balance to Fields' other retreat in Malibu. And why not?

Neither Frank nor Jamie McCourt spared any expense in enlisting a team of attorneys for what is believed to be the costliest divorce case in California history. The case had apparently ended with a settlement in October 2011, in which Jamie McCourt accepted $131 million and relinquished any claim to the Dodgers. Jamie McCourt signed the agreement against the advice of one of her attorneys, Bert Fields. In an email he sent to one of Frank McCourt's attorneys, Fields said he had advised Jamie McCourt not to proceed, in the belief that her ex-husband had not provided all the financial information necessary "for her to make an informed decision.

The jalapenos aren't hot enough, Bert Fields says, shaking his head. Nice green color, but too mild, he notes as he eats a slice he's had marinating all afternoon in lime juice, sugar and salt. "I don't like pain," he says, "But the fajitas I make for myself would probably make you cry." Inflicting pain is a professional specialty of Fields', the fearsome entertainment attorney who famously reduced Walt Disney Co. Chairman Michael Eisner to a confused mess on the witness stand.

Tom Cruise is going on offense, suing the publishers of Life & Style Weekly for defamation and seeking $50 million in damages over a cover that alleged he'd "abandoned" daughter Suri. "Tom is a caring father who dearly loves Suri," attorney Bert Fields said in a statement Wednesday. "To say he has 'abandoned' her is a vicious lie. To say it in lurid headlines with a tearful picture of Suri is reprehensible. " The suit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in L.A. At issue is Life & Style's July 30 cover, which had the headline, "Suri In Tears, Abandoned by Her Dad," accompanied by a picture of the girl crying.

Mario Puzo turned in his new script for "Godfather III" last week to the anxious folks at Paramount. Though Puzo wouldn't comment, his attorney Bert Fields did: "The script has the flavor of 'Godfather I and II' and Mario brought back many of the things the audiences loved in the first two." Fields said the studio is reading it now: "I can't tell you what they thought, but I know Mario feels very good about it. 'Godfather' has always been his first love."

For Tom Cruise, a quick resolution to his divorce from Katie Holmes looked like "Mission: Impossible" just last week. But the Hollywood action hero appears to have extinguished the tabloid firestorm with an agreement that one source said grants Holmes primary custody of their daughter, Suri, and control of her religious upbringing. The confidential deal was hammered out over the weekend in New York and announced Monday, 11 days after Holmes took the industry and her husband by surprise with the filing of divorce papers in Manhattan.

One of Hollywood's best-known lawyers has been questioned by the FBI in connection with a sweeping federal probe into allegedly illegal wiretaps by celebrity private investigator Anthony Pellicano. Although attorney Bert Fields was unavailable for comment Thursday, an associate confirmed that Fields had been interviewed once by federal agents several months ago.

Neither Frank nor Jamie McCourt spared any expense in enlisting a team of attorneys for what is believed to be the costliest divorce case in California history. The case had apparently ended with a settlement in October 2011, in which Jamie McCourt accepted $131 million and relinquished any claim to the Dodgers. Jamie McCourt signed the agreement against the advice of one of her attorneys, Bert Fields. In an email he sent to one of Frank McCourt's attorneys, Fields said he had advised Jamie McCourt not to proceed, in the belief that her ex-husband had not provided all the financial information necessary "for her to make an informed decision.

Bert Fields, the prominent entertainment lawyer whose celebrity clientele has included Tom Cruise, Michael Jackson and Kevin Costner, said Tuesday that he has formally been notified that he is a subject of a federal grand jury investigation into illegal wiretapping. "I've been told that I am a subject, not a target, of the investigation," Fields said. "But I have never in any case had anything to do with illegal wiretapping. I don't do that."

Lotsa publicity blurbing about the Dustin Hoffman-Tom Cruise starrer "Rainman," from United Artists, via Guber-Peters, tentatively to begin shooting Aug. 17 (or, as a contingency plan, six to eight weeks after a resolution to the possible Directors Guild strike). But we've picked up additional tidbits. Like unhappiness from Hoffman, who's supposedly wanted a new writer and a new direction for the plot, particularly as it involves his and Cruise's characters.

For Tom Cruise, a quick resolution to his divorce from Katie Holmes looked like "Mission: Impossible" just last week. But the Hollywood action hero appears to have extinguished the tabloid firestorm with an agreement that one source said grants Holmes primary custody of their daughter, Suri, and control of her religious upbringing. The confidential deal was hammered out over the weekend in New York and announced Monday, 11 days after Holmes took the industry and her husband by surprise with the filing of divorce papers in Manhattan.

Tom Cruise is one of Hollywood's richest movie stars. His wife, Katie Holmes, has assembled a team of high-profile lawyers to handle their divorce proceedings. Will the split be amicable, as Cruise's attorney hopes, or will the breakup be a courtroom version of the actor's “War of the Worlds”? The announcement Friday that Cruise's wife of more than five years was seeking to end their marriage appeared to catch the star of the “Mission: Impossible” films off guard. Representatives for Cruise, who was in Iceland filming the movie “Oblivion,” were informed “by mail and fax” of the initiation of divorce proceedings, Cruise's lawyer, Bert Fields, said.

Who wrote Shakespeare? Sounds like "Who's buried in Grant's tomb?" Yet about 150 years ago, people on both sides of the Atlantic began asking how an otherwise obscure William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon could have crafted the most brilliant works in the English language. Most scholars regard this as an annoying sideshow; and only more annoying now that the film "Anonymous" has been released, purporting that Shakespeare was just a front for the pen and brain of the Earl of Oxford.

Editor's note: Rachel Abramowitz will be periodically checking in on the trial of Anthony Pellicano -- former private eye to the stars, who faces 110 counts of racketeering, wiretapping, conspiracy and other federal charges -- and writing about what the case means to Hollywood. -- Two allegedly crooked guys commiserate on the phone about the crookedness of the movie business. There's the graft. The hypocrisy. The dreadful bloviating.

NOT SO long ago, Bert Fields was, simply, Bert Fields. He was the most famous lawyer in Hollywood, a celebrity in his own right. National magazines and newspapers uncritically profiled him. Variety and the Hollywood Reporter ran his photo when he showed up at red carpet premieres. The New York Post's Page Six noted who attended the dinners he gave at his Manhattan apartment, the abode that gave coastal balance to Fields' other retreat in Malibu. And why not?

Several weeks ago, after federal agents had been investigating prominent entertainment attorney Bert Fields for more than two years, his attorneys and federal prosecutors found some common ground: It did not make sense for the two sides to immediately go to war in court. So, they agreed to extend the deadline for prosecutors to decide whether to file charges against the 76-year-old Fields, one of the most successful lawyers in Hollywood.

Tom Cruise is going on offense, suing the publishers of Life & Style Weekly for defamation and seeking $50 million in damages over a cover that alleged he'd "abandoned" daughter Suri. "Tom is a caring father who dearly loves Suri," attorney Bert Fields said in a statement Wednesday. "To say he has 'abandoned' her is a vicious lie. To say it in lurid headlines with a tearful picture of Suri is reprehensible. " The suit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in L.A. At issue is Life & Style's July 30 cover, which had the headline, "Suri In Tears, Abandoned by Her Dad," accompanied by a picture of the girl crying.

Tom Cruise is one of Hollywood's richest movie stars. His wife, Katie Holmes, has assembled a team of high-profile lawyers to handle their divorce proceedings. Will the split be amicable, as Cruise's attorney hopes, or will the breakup be a courtroom version of the actor's “War of the Worlds”? The announcement Friday that Cruise's wife of more than five years was seeking to end their marriage appeared to catch the star of the “Mission: Impossible” films off guard. Representatives for Cruise, who was in Iceland filming the movie “Oblivion,” were informed “by mail and fax” of the initiation of divorce proceedings, Cruise's lawyer, Bert Fields, said.

Entertainment attorney Bert Fields' law firm has hired a former federal prosecutor to represent its interests in a long-running wiretapping investigation involving imprisoned private detective Anthony Pellicano. Brian Sun, a well-known white-collar criminal defense attorney, confirmed Wednesday that he had been retained by Greenberg, Glusker, Fields, Claman, Machtinger & Kinsella. Sun declined to discuss his role.

Bert Fields, the prominent entertainment lawyer whose celebrity clientele has included Tom Cruise, Michael Jackson and Kevin Costner, said Tuesday that he has formally been notified that he is a subject of a federal grand jury investigation into illegal wiretapping. "I've been told that I am a subject, not a target, of the investigation," Fields said. "But I have never in any case had anything to do with illegal wiretapping. I don't do that."