A prominent sports lawyer who gained prominence for handling a sweeping NCAA bribery case and whose client list includes NBA players past and present has signed on to [represent the man accused of starting the Palisades fire](https://www.dailynews.com/2025/10/15/palisades-fire-suspect-indicted-by-grand-jury-faces-new-charges/) and flew out to meet with him in jail Thursday, he announced.
Steve Haney, who has represented the likes of NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson and current NBA players Malik Beasley and Emoni Bates, among others, made the announcement less than 24 hours after a grand jury indictment added new charges against 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht, who now faces five to 45 years in federal prison if convicted.
Haney said by phone Thursday he took an interest in Rinderknecht’s case because “there were things I knew about this case factually and things that didn’t make sense to me.
“It’s a very strange case,” he added.
Steve Haney, a defense lawyer who has represented NBA players, has signed on to represent Jonathan Rinderknecht, the man accused of starting the Palisades fire. (Courtesy of Steve Haney)
He did not comment on whether he was charging Rinderknecht for his services or doing the work pro bono.
Haney, in his first statement following the indictment, said prosecutors were using Rinderknecht as a “scapegoat” and said the “attempt to hold him criminally liable for the failure of others is preposterous.”
“There were blatant failures by governmental agencies that were intervening causes between the Lachman and Palisades fires,” he said.
Haney said he spent three hours with Rinderknecht in person in a Florida jail Thursday and had multiple video calls with him before flying out to to the state.
“He’s very intelligent,” Haney said. “He speaks multiple languages and seems to have a compassionate way about him. I get a sense of a young, frightened man who I think is, really, a scapegoat. There’s no other way of putting it, to be blamed for something he shouldn’t have responsibility for.”
With the most recent indictment Thursday, Rinderknecht’s case was being moved to California, though officials do not yet know when he will make his first court appearance in Los Angeles.
A preliminary hearing scheduled to take place in Orlando on Friday was cancelled, officials said.
Haney’s previous work includes the representation of sports manager Christian Dawkins in a sweeping NCAA bribery scandal, in which Dawkins was handed a total sentence of 18 months. The case led to an HBO documentary called “The Scheme.”
Rinderknecht was arrested in Melbourne, Florida on Oct. 7 and charged initially with destruction of property by means of fire, authorities said. On Wednesday, the grand jury indictment added one charge of arson affecting property used in interstate commerce and one count of timber set afire.
Prosecutors contend Rinderknecht, who used to live in Pacific Palisades and Hollywood, started the Lachman fire in the Pacific Palisades with “an open flame” – likely a lighter – shortly after midnight on New Year’s Day, then tried unsuccessfully to call 911 near the site of the fire before traversing down a trail toward his car and getting through to a dispatcher.
The fire was put out in hours by the Los Angeles Fire Department, but continued smoldering underground until fierce winds reignited the fire on Jan. 7, becoming the Palisades fire, federal authorities said. The destructive blaze killed 12 people and damaged or destroyed nearly 7,000 structures.
Rinderknecht was interviewed by federal authorities on Jan. 24 and was accused of lying about his whereabouts when he attempted to report the fire, prosecutors said. He drove to Florida and moved in with family months later.
Prosecutors said Rinderknecht was working as an Uber driver on New Year’s Eve and that two customers recalled him being agitated and angry that night. After dropping off his last customer at 11:34 p.m. in the Palisades area, he drove to Skull Rock Trailhead, attempted to call an ex-girlfriend, then walked up the trail to the Hidden Buddha clearing and listened to a French rap song before allegedly starting the fire.
Haney said he will continue to represent Rinderknecht as the case moves to California and believes his client will be arraigned within 14 days. Haney is able to sign on to the case through a Pro Hac Vice motion, which if granted, allows an out-of-state lawyer is granted special permission to participate in a specific legal case in a jurisdiction where they are not allowed to practice.
“I think he’s been unfairly vilified in the media in the areas of mental health and being a pyromaniac,” Haney said of his client.
Of the prosecution, “I think they’re going to have some challenges,” he said.
Originally Published: October 16, 2025 at 5:11 PM PDT