Anna Nicole Smith's Former Lawyer, Boyfriend Howard K. Stern Now an LA Public Defender

Anna Nicole Smith's ex and former lawyer, Howard K. Stern, is now working with the Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office.

Public information officer Pamela Johnson confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that Stern "was hired on June 3, 2019 as a deputy public defender."

The Blast reports that the attorney is reportedly currently in a training program for public defenders in downtown Los Angeles, where he is well-liked; his colleagues reportedly feel he is "motivated," according to the news outlet.

Stern is reportedly handling preliminary hearings, but will move up in the ranks as time goes on.

The 50-year-old met Smith in 1998 when she was suing the estate of her late husband, oilman J. Howard Marshall, for half of his estate.

Stern stopped practicing law after he started shooting Smith's E! reality show, The Anna Nicole Show, which aired from 2002 to 2004. The Playboy model died in 2007.

The two dated for the rest of Smith's life, and even exchanged vows and rings in a non-binding commitment ceremony in the Bahamas just months before Smith died from a prescription-drug overdose. He was also listed as the father on the birth certificate of Smith's daughter, Dannielyn, even though it was later proven that Larry Birkhead was the father.

A felony conviction against Stern for using fake names on Smith's prescriptions was dismissed in 2015.

The L.A. County Public Defenders Office has 36 offices employing more than 1,100 employees, including lawyers, paralegals, investigators, psychiatric social workers and administrative staff.

"Public Defenders provide legal representation to indigent criminal defendants and juveniles in the Superior Court of the County as well as in state and federal appellate courts," reads the office's mission statement. "The department strives to defend the liberties of indigent clients, protect their rights, and advocate for clients' access to resources in order to be productive members of the community."

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