Depending on who you ask, lawyers are either: a.) completely above trashy pop culture, or b.) the root of all trashy behavior that spawns pop culture. I’m not going to draw any hard and fast lines, but I will say this: if the answer is a., then Inside Legal Blogs would be one hell of a boring column. With that in mind, let’s explore some of this week’s events…

As we all know, Anna Nicole Smith passed away a few weeks ago, and the legal issues surrounding her baby and her estate seem to multiply exponentially by the second. Apparently, the latest twist involves determining the proper legal beneficiary of her estate. But even better, the alleged father of her child is none other than her former attorney, Howard K. Stern (I’m sure knocking up your client must violate some ethical code of conduct, but we’ll let that one slide for now). Additionally, scandalous photos of Anna Nicole lying in bed with a Bahamian official were released this week, causing him to resign. With all the hoopla surrounding the paternity of her child, at least one legal blogger came forward this week and  denied that allegations that he was in fact that father. May it Please the Court’s J. Craig Williams, you’re out of the running. Great…that only leaves about 500 other potential fathers for the baby. Thanks for narrowing it down a bit.

Don’t you love it when legal bloggers write about…things that have nothing to do with law? Like when lawyers become movie critics and start picking the years best movies? While most people would answer with a resounding no, I answer with a surprising yes (what can I say, it makes my job more interesting). Such is the case of BizzBangBuzz , where the bloggers listed their picks for the best movies of the year. Actually, I have to give it up to them, for the most part, they picked some great movies; except for listing Pirates of the Carribbean-Dead Man’s Chest and Superman Returns as “Great Flicks” (seriously, are you kidding me?), I would agree with a lot of their choices. 

And on that note, I’ll let you go…let’s see how many other men claim to be the father of Anna Nicole’s baby this week!