How can Perry March afford the three defense lawyers who represent him? The truth is, I'm told, he can't.

A source tells me that Perry is broke and doesn't have a penny to his name.

So, how can attorneys William Massey, his law partner, Lorna McCluskey, both of Memphis, and John Herbison, of Nashville, spend day after day representing March in two different criminal cases.

Well, the attorneys, I'm told, were paid a total of $40,000 as a retainer at the outset by Perry's brother, Ron, and sister, Kathy Breitowich.

The three lawyers represent the 45-year-old disbarred Nashville attorney on a charge that he murdered his wife, Janet, 10 years ago, and in an earlier criminal trial in which he was convicted of conspiracy and solicitation to have his wife's parents, Larry and Carolyn Levine, murdered.

Massey, McCluskey and Herbison have probably spent hundreds of hours researching and actually spending all the time in court.

Some say the lawyers probably bill clients as much as $250 to $300 an hour for representing them in serious and lengthy cases like the March cases.

So, who is paying the rest of the March's legal bills, which I'm told may exceed $200,000?

The word, my source says, is nobody.

The lawyers are having to do it for gratis and it's costing them dearly.

First of all, they reportedly are also having to pay their own expenses, such as travel and lodging, plus delaying work on other legal matters they already have, and taking on new clients.

Once an attorney represents a client at an arraignment hearing, such as with March, it's not easy to withdraw from the case.

The law says no attorney may be allowed to withdraw except for good cause and by leave of the court.

In the March case, his lawyers are spending their own time and money while trying to vigorously defend him.

One retired police officer, who worked on the case, still believes Perry March has money stashed away in some foreign country and is saving it for when his legal troubles are over.

That rumor has been around for a long time, and if it’s true, his lawyers had better not find where it is.