Lawyer Visiting Lindsay Lohan's Sober House, but What Does It All Mean?

Lohan's new "consultant," attorney Robert Shapiro, was seen visiting Pickford Lofts, where the actress is now staying

By Natalie Finn Jul 16, 2010 12:20 AMTags

So, what's Lindsay Lohan getting at with her new address?

While a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office told E! News it was her understanding that Lohan's legal team—presumably being headed up now by star defense attorney Robert Shapiro—is not planning to appeal her jail sentence, it remains unclear why she opted to move into a sober-living facility five days before she's due to surrender.

Shapiro was spotted earlier today heading into Pickford Lofts, which he founded in honor of his son Brent, who died of a drug overdose in 2005. Lohan's assistant, toting what looked like enough coffee for a legal strategy session, entered the building soon after.

"If they're going to try to appeal or to get her a delay of surrender so she can do a project of some kind, they may be putting her in this with the hope that it will show the judge that even if she's not in jail, she's doing something that can give the court some assurance that she's going to try to correct her problems and lead a sober life," L.A.-based criminal defense attorney Alec Rose tells E! News.

If Lohan appeals, he says, then she would be able to remain free on bail.

"But the court can still impose appropriate restrictions on her release," Rose adds. "The court can still impose life restrictions on her. As a condition of release pending appeal, the court might want her in sober living where the court believes that somebody is going to enforce some rules of sobriety on her."

Either way, the D.A.'s Office tells us that the court has neither been notified of any change in attorney—Shawn Chapman Holley is still listed as the attorney of record, even though she quit a week ago—nor has Lohan's camp taken any action to get an earlier court date.

D.A. spokeswoman Jane Robison says that Lohan is required to appear at the Beverly Hills Courthouse by 8:30 a.m. on July 20. "She cannot go directly to jail," she says.

In the meantime, Lohan's mandated stay at the Century Regional Detention Facility draws ever nearer.

—Reporting by Whitney English and Claudia Rosenbaum

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