Action hero Vinnie Jones has enlisted the help of a top US lawyer to defend his case in court today.

Having built up a repertoire of celebrity cases, including Lindsay Lohan and Mel Gibson?s drunk driving charges, 44-year-old Harvard Law graduate Blair Berk has now also agreed to loan her expertise to the Jones case,

Jones faces up to a year in prison if found guilty of the three counts of assault he is charged with. His arrest came after a bar brawl in South Dakota where he was caught punching builder Juan Barrera on CCTV footage. Barrera got involved in the fight which broke out as a result of Jones being smashed in the face with a beer glass by attacker Jesse Beckitt.

Beckitt was, however, acquitted by police who said that specific confrontation was a ?mutual combat situation?.

A source told The Sun: ?Blair has a fantastic reputation. They will argue that Vinnie did not start the fight ? and that he is the only one charged, even though he ended up with the worst injuries.?