Neil Papiano represents not only a slate of movie and TV stars, he’s the attorney of choice for several L.A. city officials

Behind Neil Papiano’s conference table in his law firm’s downtown high-rise suite are photos of Elizabeth Taylor, Walter Matthau, Sandra Locke, Joan Collins, Peggy Lee and Ricardo Montalban. They are all his clients. So are legendary jockeys Bill Shoemaker and Laffit Pincay.

But Papiano also moves in a very different world, as a consummate litigator at L.A. City Hall. He is currently representing Councilman Hal Bernson, as well as former Councilman Richard Alatorre in his battle for custody of his sister-in-law’s child. Papiano also counts council President John Ferraro among his closest friends. Right now, he’s representing the Nederlander organization in its controversial attempt to keep its exclusive contract to operate the Greek Theatre.

Question: How did you end up representing so many celebrities?

Answer: I sort of just happened into it. Back in the early 1970s, I represented some people who sold property to the Nederlanders. After that case, the Nederlander family actually approached me and asked me to represent them. Shortly afterward, Jimmy Nederlander introduced me to Elizabeth Taylor.

Q: What was your first impression of her?

A: Well, that’s a funny story. When Jimmy introduced me to her and said she was Elizabeth Taylor, she was wearing a blond wig, so I didn’t recognize her. I thought the whole thing was some elaborate joke. It turned out she was doing that to avoid recognition. Let me tell you, it worked. But once I had dinner with her, I found her to be a very charming, very compassionate woman. She is a lot of fun to be around.

Q: And your first big celebrity case, how did that come about?

A: I had done some litigation for Elizabeth Taylor, but there were two really big cases. One involved her perfume; there was a claim by an individual that he had ownership in her perfume. We were able to win that case. The next case was against the National Enquirer, which was settled to our great satisfaction.

Q: But aren’t celebrity clients a pain to deal with, making all sorts of demands that other clients wouldn’t have the nerve to?

A: Strangely enough, there aren’t a lot of differences, and strangely enough, they are probably even better clients than others because they understand their celebrity nature. I haven’t represented any of these people that I wouldn’t consider to be friends and very easy to work with.

Q: What about the media and paparazzi? Have they become more intrusive over time? How do they affect your cases?

A: I’m a great believer in the free press. But at the same time, the rights of the performer begin where the freedom of the press ends. There is a line that is crossed, when it becomes too intrusive. It’s one thing to see a star walking out of a restaurant and to take a photo. It’s quite another for a photographer to climb a tree a mile away from someone’s house and use one of those telephoto lenses to take pictures of her nude in her own bathroom and then publish those pictures for the whole world to see.

Q: That actually was a case you litigated.

A: Yes, it was Joan Collins. That behavior clearly crossed the line. Now I know it may not be actually setting foot on private property, but this tree was more than a mile away. Surely someone can have a reasonable expectation of privacy under those conditions.

But don’t get me started. One of the most outrageous instances of this I’ve ever seen actually had a member of the press as a victim. During the Liz Taylor perfume trial, all these paparazzi were chasing down the hall after us. One of the cameramen tripped and lay sprawled on the floor. When we saw what happened, both Liz and I turned around to go back and help the cameraman, who was struggling to get all his equipment together. Did the other photographers who were closer lend a hand? No, they actually climbed on top of the guy to get their pictures. That was right down the street, at the downtown L.A. courthouse.

Q: All this celebrity-tinged excitement is a long way from your upbringing in Salt Lake City.

A: Yes, but as far back as when I was 6 or 7, I sort of knew I wanted to be a lawyer. You see, I grew up relatively poor; my father was legally blind and my mother worked as a chocolate-dipper in a local factory. From a very early age, I saw that being a lawyer was a way to make a lot of money and be your own boss. Also, I was fascinated with the law, even as early as grade school.

Q: And now you’ve got this celebrity clientele, which also has included a number of sports celebrities. How did that begin?

A: I first got involved through (former Oakland Athletics owner) Charlie Finley. He called me one evening and asked me to represent him. This was back in the 1970s, at the height of the incredible championship team that he had assembled. I jumped at the chance, since I had loved baseball since I was a little kid.

Q: What do you think of the job that Fox is doing with the Dodgers?

A: It’s too early to tell. Baseball is really a long-term situation. You don’t build a team in one year, though you can break it down in one year. So I don’t think they’ve really had a chance yet. A team must stay relatively intact for the chemistry between the players to take hold. That’s what makes great dynasties like the Oakland A’s back in the 1970s or George Steinbrenner’s New York Yankees today.

Q: How did you meet John Ferraro?

A: I first met John when I was president of the Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce and I was asked by Howard Allen, who was president of Southern California Edison at the time, to co-chair a drive to reform the charter of the city of Los Angeles. That was back in 1970 or so. John Ferraro was one of the other co-chairs, and former Councilman and County Supervisor Ed Edelman was the third. That’s where John and I got to be friends. I went to Stanford, he went to USC, and we started jabbing each other about football games. And we still do. Last year, when Stanford beat USC, I called him up and asked him the score, saying I hadn’t seen the papers because I was out of town. Just the other day, I asked him if he knew anything about basketball and who was No. 1 this year (it was Stanford).

Q: As co-chair of the previous charter reform commission, why did the latest effort succeed while that effort didn’t?

A: This time around, it was very well done with prominent people on the committees. They were able to raise the consciousness of the electorate. Remember, we narrowly missed then, without the concerted drive that you saw this time around.

Q: You currently represent the Nederlanders in the Greek Theatre contract renewal controversy. Why couldn’t the Nederlanders have agreed to open bidding?

A: That subject is still in litigation and I cannot comment on any aspect of it. I do not want anything I say now to be an issue during the litigation.

Q: You’ve been described through the years as a City Hall insider, as someone to whom people go when they want to get something done. Is that an accurate characterization?

A: Well, I don’t know if that’s true. I would hope that the people who come to me for representation do so because of my ability and dedication to the law. All the matters that have come up involving public entities are litigation matters, when something is heading to court. That’s when I’m called in. I’m not at all involved in things like getting a contract through the City Council, for example.

Q: In these days when law firms constantly lure top talent away from rival firms, why have you chosen to stay with one firm for nearly 40 years?

A: I love what I do. It’s as simple as that.

Neil L. Papiano

Position: Partner

Company: Iverson, Yoakum, Papiano & Hatch

Born: Salt Lake City, 1935

Education: B.A. and M.A. in political science, Stanford University; J.D., Vanderbilt University

Career Turning Points: Decision to attend Stanford University; decision to join the predecessor of Iverson, Yoakum, Papiano & Hatch fresh from law school

Most Admired

Person: Assistant high school principal in Salt Lake City who steered him to Stanford; Oscar Trippet, who founded the law firm and acted as his mentor

Hobbies: Baseball (personal goal is to see a game in every Major League ballpark; seven more to go); owning, breeding and entering horses in races

Personal: Never married, no children (“The law is a jealous mistress,” he quips)