By JOHN ELIGON

When celebrities find themselves in a particular kind of trouble, there is one man they turn to: Ira Judelson, bail bondsman. “A lawyer can’t get you out of jail; only a bondsman can,” said Mr. Judelson.

Among the more recognizable defendants are the rappers Ja Rule and DMX; Plaxico Burress and Lawrence Taylor, the former New York Giants; Kristin Davis, once the leader of a prostitution ring; Robert Joel Halderman, the Emmy-winning CBS producer who tried to extort money from David Letterman, the talk show host; and Calvin R. Darden Jr., the stockbroker who defrauded companies .

Like most bail bondsmen , Mr. Judelson is essentially an insurance agent. When a judge sets bail, a defendant who does not have enough cash to cover it can instead pay a bondsman 6 to 10 percent of the bail, plus some auxiliary fees. Usually, the bondsman will require collateral - 40 percent of the bail in cash, perhaps, or property worth at least as much as the whole amount. In turn, the bondsman submits a contract to the court agreeing to pay the bail if the defendant fails to show up.

Those contracts are typically backed by insurance companies that can provide quick access to capital. Mr. Judelson estimated that about 2 percent of his clients jumped bail. The celebrities, though, are the safest bets; they usually have enough assets to collateralize the entire bail amount, so they have a lot to lose, and they are easy to keep track of through the news. Only one celebrity, the rapper DMX, real name Earl Simmons, has ever fled on him, Mr. Judelson said.

In that 2006 case, over unpaid parking tickets and driving with a suspended license, DMX’s managers sent the money to cover the forfeiture. Like most bondsmen, Mr. Judelson hires bounty hunters to track down defendants who flee.

(His own career as a bounty hunter was short-lived after he was shot at and almost ran into an approaching car.) Mr Judelson credits years of strategic wooing of high-priced lawyers with helping him snag many of the city’s celebrity defendants.

“I don’t rule the courthouse. I don’t make the rules in the courthouse. But to help get the defendant out of incarceration, I do hold some sort of strength,” he says. Mr. Judelson, 44, exhibits equal parts moxie and suaveness.

In a business that relies heavily on instinct, he said, “I believe I have the vision to read people.” He signs off on all of the 1,000 to 2,000 bonds his company writes each year, most for unremarkable street criminals - thieves, drug pushers and the like ? whose bails are $5,000 to $15,000. But it’s the celebrities who have allowed Mr. Judelson to build his plush suburban existence.

On the board in his Manhattan office, one of three in the city, there is a picture of Ja Rule , and another of a female client who had his name tattooed onto her shoulder blade. One key to his success, acquaintances say, is that defendants trust him. After Ja Rule made a recent court appearance, he and Mr. Judelson embraced .

As the rapper, whose real name is Jeffrey Atkins, headed for the elevators, Mr. Judelson stopped him and whispered in his ear that he hoped for the best for him. “That’s why I love you, baby,” Mr. Atkins said as he gave Mr. Judelson a hug. In an interview, Mr. Atkins said: “Sometimes people could be cruel to my world. He understands what we go through.” Mr. Judelson’s approach is less sentimental. “I wouldn’t be able to put food on my table if there was no crime,” he said. “Crime pays ? for me at least.”