Profile: Smut Lawyers, LLC

How do legal beagle defenders of porn live with themselves, you might ask? By consistently deluding themselves into thinking that graphic videos and still pictures of people perversely bonking one another is constitutionally protected speech. Of course, they draw the line at defending child porn. Why? Because they don't want to have a 'bad' reputation.

Southern California's San Fernando Valley is the epicenter of the adult entertainment industry. The majority of XXX videos on the market have their roots in this strip of dingy suburbs northeast of downtown Los Angeles. But when the Valley's porn purveyors need a lawyer -- and they always need a lawyer -- many head over the Sepulveda Pass to the upscale enclave of Westwood, where the law offices of Weston, Garrou & DeWitt rest high in an innocuous white office tower.

There, surrounded by sports memorabilia, generations of family photos, and a panoramic view of the West L.A. hills, attorney Clyde DeWitt has carved out a reputation as one of the pre-eminent specialists in adult entertainment law. The five-partner practice is one of the only firms in the U.S. to focus on this unusual area, which encompasses issues from free speech to contracts to copyrights.

"It's a lot of fun," says DeWitt, a stocky 55-year-old with a rumbling baritone voice. "First Amendment is the centerpiece of what we do, because the overwhelming majority of our clients' problems are the government trying to regulate them in one way or another."