Conrad Black, the British peer who was recently convicted of fraud and obstruction of justice, has hired a heavy-hitting New York attorney who once represented Bill and Hillary Clinton against the independent counsel Kenneth Starr to lead his forthcoming appeal.

After a four-month criminal trial in which Lord Black relied on a veteran Chicago defence lawyer, Edward Genson, and Edward Greenspan, a well-known Canadian jurist who was not licensed to practices in the US, the former boss of Hollinger International has turned to Andrew Frey, a former deputy solicitor-general at the US Justice Department who has argued more than 60 cases before the Supreme Court, as part of a last-ditch attempt to avoid prison.