New Lawyer Retained for Boy Who Has Accused Jackson

A highly respected local lawyer and former Los Angeles County Bar Assn. president has been retained to represent the 13-year-old boy who alleges that Michael Jackson molested him, sources close to the case said Monday.

The lawyer, Larry R. Feldman, could not be reached for comment, but he is a well-known plaintiff’s attorney who was elected to lead the county Bar association in 1987. He is also a former president of the Los Angeles Trial Lawyers Assn.

In interviews with police and county social workers, the boy has accused Jackson of molesting him over a fourth-month period this year. The accusations, denied by Jackson and his representatives, sparked a police investigation.

Feldman becomes the latest in a string of lawyers to represent the boy or members of his family. He was hired after attorney Gloria Allred, another leading Los Angeles lawyer who has handled a number of high-profile cases, abruptly left the case last week. On Friday, Allred confirmed that she was no longer representing the boy, but she declined to say why.

The boy’s father, whom Jackson’s representatives have accused of trying to extort money from the entertainer, is represented by Richard G. Hirsch. Hirsch declined to comment on why the boy and his father had different lawyers or on why Allred had been replaced by Feldman.

Allred’s departure, and her silence, prompted Jackson’s lawyer Howard Weitzman to speculate that either she had left because the family wanted to avoid a “media circus” or because she had interviewed the child and come to the conclusion that he was not telling the truth.

Although Allred said Monday that she still could not comment on why she left the case because of attorney-client privilege, she angrily rejected Weitzman’s comments.

“I do not intend to stand by and allow myself to be used as a punching bag by the likes of Howard Weitzman and his ilk or by anyone else with a vested interest in this case,” Allred said. “I hope Howard Weitzman is a better lawyer than he is a mind reader.”

As to Weitzman’s claim that the family might have wanted to avoid a media circus, Allred said: “Howard and his camp have been the ringmasters.”