How Lawyers Work with Private Eyes

In one of their first phone calls, the lawyer and his private investigator outlined in no uncertain terms one ground rule: Their discussions were to be strictly confidential.

"The conversations are just between you and I," the private eye tells the attorney.

"Right," the attorney says.

"Period," the private eye adds.

In the end, however, their conversations were anything but confidential. That phone call and dozens of other recordings were played in federal court in Los Angeles this month, where the attorney, Terry Christensen, and the private detective, Anthony Pellicano, are on trial for allegedly conspiring to wiretap the former wife of billionaire Kirk Kerkorian.

Because Pellicano was a well-known sleuth-to-the-stars, with clients such as comedian Chris Rock and actor Tom Cruise, his legal troubles have generated interest in Hollywood circles. But his current trial is also being closely followed by Los Angeles' legal community because it thrusts into the limelight a type of relationship the public rarely sees: that of a lawyer and his private investigator.