One year ago, attorney Howard K. Stern spent his time with exactly one needy client -- Anna Nicole Smith. From the perspective of an outside (or anyone who watched her 2002-2004 eponymous reality show), it seemed as though the vaguely creepy curly-haired counselor wanted much more than a professional relationship with the blonde bombshell. Sure enough, in a questionably valid ceremony at sea, the odd pair allegedly tied the knot. Smith identified Stern in the press as her months-old daughter's father, though questions of paternity quickly came to the surface, with a variety of peculiar players involved.

The tortured tabloid favorite became a cautionary tale in February when an ultimately lethal mix of prescription medication brought the new mother's early demise at the age of 37. Just five months prior, her 20-year-old son Daniel had died as well under dubious circumstances.

But Stern was about to lose more than his stepson and the woman that he loved. In a highly publicized paternity battle, he would lose the daughter he had claimed as his own and the rights to any of Anna Nicole's willed fortune. He would lose what shreds were left of his dignity, when rumors of a twisted affair between Stern and Larry Birkhead went public through an (unauthorized) tell-all book. And worst of all for the fame-hungry pseudo-widower, he's lost relevance.

Without a tenable connection to Anna or baby Dannielynn, there's absolutely no reason for anyone to care about Stern. Maybe he should brush up on his courtroom skills and join the O.J. Simpson defense team.

Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

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