NAMES IN THE NEWS : Dershowitz Hired by Helmsley

Leona Helmsley has hired Alan Dershowitz, the Harvard law professor who helped clear Claus von Bulow of attempted murder, to handle the appeal of her tax evasion conviction.

The appeal team also will include Susan Estrich, who headed Michael S. Dukakis’ unsuccessful presidential campaign. Dershowitz says Helmsley has been “very pleasant” during their Boston meetings and he says her image as a tempestuous shrew is undeserved. “She is demanding but I like working for demanding people,” he said. “She wants to be sure no stone is unturned. Were she a man, she’d be regarded as exacting and demanding.”

Helmsley, 69, was sentenced to four years in prison and fined $7.1 million for cheating on her taxes but Dershowitz says his review of her records probably will show that the government owes her. “This is a woman who paid over $300 million a year in taxes and she has probably overpaid her taxes,” he said.