A major twist came in the murder case of Rob and Michele Reiner. High-profile defense attorney Alan Jackson dropped Nick Reiner.
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Now insiders are weighing in on why the lawyer dropped the case before trial. Jackson quit the case on Wednesday. The attorney did not explain why he was stepping away from representing Nick. However, he said he was legally and ethically barred from “explaining all the reasons.”
Legal experts have weighed on why Jackson dropped out. Some thought the attorney would be damaging his reputation in Hollywood.
“The backlash is he becomes a pariah in Hollywood because Michele and Rob were beloved. There would be a real chance Hollywood business would dry up,” legal expert Royal Oakes told The New York Post.
Nick Reiner Case
Oakes believes Jackson could be considering his “reputation than money.”
“You can count the number of those lawyers on one hand, Alan is on the list,” said Oakes. “You know you’re a pariah in Hollywood when you fall off the short list, you’re on that list, or you’re not. You’re going to know you’re off the list when the phone stops ringing.”
So it’s possible that Jackson could see Nick as damaged goods as far as his career goes. Another attorney agreed with this assessment.
“You are on the wrong side of this whole thing in terms of the facts and popularity,” the attorney said.
Jackson would have to potentially cross-examine some of Hollywood’s biggest names such as Conan O’Brien. O’Brien threw a Christmas party where Nick got in a heated arguement with his father.
“Just imagine Jackson’s cross-examination — ‘Nick needed help and had a chance to get it, we need the police, and no police, they resisted it,’” Oakes said. “If Alan Jackson went ballistic, his name could be mud in Tinseltown.”
It’s also possible that money or a conflict of interest played a role in Jackson dropping Nick as a client. His partner, David Yannetti, disagrees with Jackson trying to save his reputation as motivation for dropping Nick’s case.
“I’m sure this is a decision Alan didn’t take lightly,” he said. “It’s always difficult, it’s our job to help others. I had a front-row seat for three-and-a-half years. He takes the ethics of this profession very seriously. We take these cases because they’re hard, not easy.”