If you scour the news at on any given day there is often a well known figure knocking around who is in need of a lawyer to help them out of a legal scrape. Here are a couple that have cropped up recently…

Michael Jackson must be a favorite with lawyers given the amount of his fortune he has spent on them over the years. He seems to use lawyers like most people use hot water.

Having recently moved back to Los Angeles, Jackson has been slapped with a breach-of-contract lawsuit by the veteran Hollywood film director John Landis, who says he has not been paid his share of the profits from the iconic “Thriller” video for at least four years. Whoops. Jacko fans can get the full lowdown at The Wrap .

Meanwhile, WSJ Law considers whether swimmer Michael Phelps could face criminal charges as part of the fallout from a photo that surfaced showing the swimmer puffing from a marijuana pipe at a University of South Carolina house party. No doubt Phelps will have a decent lawyer on hand to help him deal with the haze if the smoke starts rising.

Oh and lets not forget celebrity lawyers themselves; Prince Harry’s ex Chelsy Davy has got herself a training contract at magic circle firm Allen & Overy. So A&O maintains its tabloid ties – out goes Deidre and in comes Chelsy.