It really seemed like the craziness surrounding Allen Stanford's never-ending stream of defense lawyers had reached its zenith in early April 2010. That was when he changed lawyers for the fourth time and handed his defense over to Houston criminal defense attorney Mike Essmyer and Houston consumer lawyer Robert S. Bennett. That was also when a frustrated Judge David Hittner complained about Stanford switching lawyers "over and over again" and told him that there was no guarantee he would approve further additions to his legal team.

Two months later, however, the drama surrounding Stanford's legal team continues and the most commonly used word when describing the situation seems to be "circus." To fill in the gaps a bit, here is some of what has gone down since April.

On May 14, the Essmyer appeared before Judge Hittner seeking to withdraw because Stanford had already fired him due to "irreconcilable differences." Essmyer also complained of conflicts with Bennett, who he said was acting independently despite the fact that Essmyer was lead counsel. Last month, while Judge Hiittner pondered that motion, Bennett, who is in personal bankruptcy, reportedly spent a night in jail after a Houston judge found him in contempt for refusing to provide documents to a creditor, the WSJ reports. "At least I have something more in common with you," Stanford is said to have told Bennett.

On June 1, Judge Hittner showed that he had, in fact, had quite enough of the legal turnover, denying Essmyer’s motion to withdraw as counsel for Stanford. Judge Hittner also ordered Bennett to assume the role of “lead counsel” for Stanford. On June 5, the WSJ reported ("Stanford Defense Turns Into Legal Circus") that court records show "a total of about 120 lawyers, paralegals and clerks from at least 10 law firms have come and gone after running into conflicts with Mr. Stanford."

The most recent development, according to the Texas Lawyer ("Defendant Laura Pendergest-Holt files motion to sever citing "circus show"), is that one of Stanford's co-defendants, Laura Pendergest-Holt, filed a motion on June 9 asking Judge Hittner to sever her criminal trial from Stanford's because Stanford's behavior and his “latest collection of lawyers (the Bennett-Nguyen Joint Venture)” have prejudiced her right to a fair trial with their “egregious and circus-like conduct.”

Pendergest-Holt complains that Team Stanford has "flaunted court orders, set up potentially unethical entities to practice law in Texas . . . and have faked health issues in court.”