Is Bert Fields in the clear?

That's what Nikki Finke is reporting on her Deadline Hollywood site. She says that the hot-shot entertainment lawyer is being cleared on most every aspect of the Anthony Pellicano case, including the wiretapping and conspiracy accusations. The NYT had reported this week that at least 10 members of Fields' Century City firm, Greenberg Glusker, had been called before a federal grand jury in recent weeks. One defense lawyer told the Times that it was a "fishing expedition." Fields has denied any knowledge of the wiretapping and other criminal activity that Pellicano is being charged with. His trial is set for February, but is likely to be pushed back to September, 2007. Remember when this was supposed to be Hollywood's blockbuster scandal?

Earlier, prosecutors said they didn't plan to bring charges against Greenberg Glusker, which has seen a number of departures in the last couple of years. Actually, the firm has been going through a sort of generational changing of the guard - even without the Fields mess - with a number of its senior partners in their 70s and 80s. Fields himself is 77.