Prince Andrew Picks Lawyer Deep In Sex Cannibalism Defense
Has Prince Andrew changed his outlook in this case?
‘Actually, mom, let’s not Google me right now.’ (Photo by Steve Parsons – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
The UK press played it off as Andrew trying to troll his brother — and environmentalist — Prince Charles when the Duke of York took 3 SUVs on a 1000-mile round-trip trek to Balmoral. So cheeky that Andrew!
But for those of us following the law, Prince Andrew’s decision to hopscotch around the British Isles by car had more to do with trying to escape a process server sent by Boies Schiller than scoring troll points against Charles. Driving from one gated compound to another keeps the target of a lawsuit relatively secure.
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Lost in all the coverage was a proper interrogation of what hijinks unfold on a Pretenders-style “500 mile and 500 more” journey seated next to your ex-wife — yes, Sarah Ferguson is seated right there — to avoid service in a lawsuit alleging that you raped a child multiple times. From Fergie’s perspective, she’s road tripping eight to nine hours to see her ex-mother-in-law with the guy she thought she kicked to the curb 25 years ago. About three hours in they must have played a round of Punch Buggy that got truly savage, man.
In any event, the success of Andrew’s ground game approach is the subject of the next courtroom battle in his ongoing legal fight over possible involvement in Jeffrey Epstein’s child sex ring. BSF, representing Virginia Giuffre who alleges that she was coerced into sex with multiple people including the embattled Royal and Captain Underpants, Alan Dershowitz, claims to have perfected service delivering the lawsuit to a guard on duty outside one of Andrew’s estates on August 27. Prince Andrew’s new attorney argued yesterday that his client wasn’t properly served.
The ins and outs of international service upon fallen royalty is a better subject for a law review Note than an Above the Law post. What’s more interesting was Prince Andrew’s latest choice of attorney, bringing on Hollywood lawyer Andrew Brettler of Lavely & Singer to handle his case.
On the one hand, it’s a smart pick bringing on an attorney used to dealing with high-profile clients in high-pressure cases. For better or worse, Brettler’s work representing celebrities grants him extensive experience defending clients against allegations of sexual misconduct. On pure substance, the Duke of York made an excellent selection.
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On the other hand, Googling Andrew Brettler right now just drops a bunch of Armie Hammer sex cannibalism craziness onto one’s lap. That’s the “not-necessarily-legal-but-important” part of hiring an attorney that they don’t teach you. Every news outlet that saw Brettler’s name crop up yesterday had to immediately run a search to throw in the journalistically obligatory “Troy McClure” paragraph — you know, “This is attorney so and so… you might remember him from repping those orphans who ate the off-brand boron trifluoride gelatin!” That’s why news stories about Prince Andrew from the last 24 hours all have some version of a paragraph at the end saying, “Remember the guy from the racist as hell Johnny Depp movie being investigated for violent cannibal sex acts?” Armie Hammer’s legal issues are ongoing and he denies all the allegations, but — as a look — someone accused of spending big bucks on a pedo ring may not want these descriptors juxtaposed into every story about them.
But that’s the constant balancing act between getting lawyers proven in this field and keeping a low-profile in the PR arena. Celebrity defense lawyers will eventually represent characters with unsavory cases. A lawyer’s success in taking on and navigating those cases is the appeal for a troubled client.
Which might be exactly how one should describe the Duke right now: “troubled.” Up until now, he could try to fly under the radar with attorneys who might be exceedingly competent but weren’t necessarily baptized in the fire of TMZ. The addition of Brettler suggests if playing it safe and technical was ever the calculus, that’s changed. The battle to win in the court of public opinion is over and the time to bathe in the grimy O.J. waters of winning the case and losing the peace — as defined by living out the rest of one’s days under a cloud — has kicked off.
Maybe that’s overreading the situation and Andrew’s camp is really just playing the draft day game of taking the best lawyer available off the board regardless of need. But it’s hard to shake the impression that this signals a big change in his outlook in this case.
Lawyer for Prince Andrew says he’ll fight ‘baseless’ sexual abuse lawsuit [The Hill]
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Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.
