Attorney-Client Sexual Relations

**Update 10/03/2006 - I have changed the title of this post, since upon further reflection I felt it could be misleading. **

It has been reported (actually, he announced it on Larry King Live) that the father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby is none other than her lawyer, Howard K. Stern. Which, if nothing else, explains why he was spending the night in the Nassau hospital room with Smith and was there when her son passed away. I mean, I spend lots of postpartum time with my lawyer, but I happen to be married to him. Otherwise, that's a little freaky, don't you think?

I know that the first thought all you lawyers had was "Sex with a client? What jurisdiction is he licensed in?". Yah, admit it, you're a law geek too. Stern is licensed in California, which frowns upon attorney-client relationships but does not prohibit them.

And (because it's hard for me to blog about anything that can't be related to childbirth, breastfeeding, or midwifery) I will point out that Dr. Cyril Wecht, the infamous coroner who performed a second, private autopsy on Daniel Smith, was also in charge of the investigation into the childbirth death of Issac Daley and subsequent prosecution of Judy Wilson. Small world, I know. In that case, Dr. Wecht has opined (outside his area of expertise, something he seems to do often) that "laboring women are unable to think rationally and thereby make decisions about their own care."