Who is Phil Spector’s New Attorney?

Posted by Matthew Heller

An attorney once described by San Francisco magazine as "tough and preeningly confident" appears to be next in line to represent Phil Spector in the Lana Clarkson murder case. Doron Weinberg, of Weinberg & Wilder in San Francisco, told LA Superior Court Judge Larry Fidler this week that he is ironing out an agreement with Spector but all remaining issues should be resolved by the next hearing in the case Dec. 5.

Only two members of Spector's defense team -- Dennis Riordan, who shares office space with Weinberg, and Christopher Plourd of San Diego -- remain from the trial that ended in a hung jury in September. Weinberg, a tall man with a booming voice and a shock of white hair who was born in Israel, is well-known in the Bay Area, where his clients have included former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavel Lazarenko, who was convicted of money laundering in 2004. His most high-profile client to date in Southern California was Dr. Bruce Steir, who pleaded guilty in 2000 to manslaughter in the Riverside County case of a woman who bled to death after Steir performed an abortion on her.

Another Bay Area attorney, Gerald Schwartzbach, won an acquittal for Robert Blake in his murder trial. Perhaps Spector is hoping for similar deliverance from the North.