Los Angeles Superior Court Rules

Judge Rules that Dodgers Owner is Free to Sue Bingham for Malpractice

Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt is free to bring a malpractice case against Bingham McCutchen, over claims the firm mishandled the preparation of financial papers for McCourt and his now-estranged wife. A Massachusetts state judge has dismissed the firm's lawsuit that asked the court to declare that its legal work for him was up to par. Other McCourt litigation is central to the Massachusetts case, a declaratory judgment action. Frank McCourt is embroiled in divorce proceedings with his wife, Jamie McCourt, in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Calif. Bingham lawyers' work on financial papers that purported to set up separate ownership of certain assets by each of the McCourts separately has been a central issue in that case. According to the complaint, the McCourts reached out to Bingham Boston partner Lawrence "Larry" Silverstein in 2001 and hired the firm for estate planning and other legal work. Silverstein and other Bingham lawyers ultimately represented Frank McCourt when he acquired the Dodgers. They also prepared a "Marital Property Agreement," which was designed to keep certain assets in Jamie McCourt's name and shield them from Frank McCourt's creditors. Frank McCourt took on significant debt to buy the team, which had already operated at a loss for several years. Last December, the California court ruled that it would not enforce the Bingham-drafted agreement on the grounds that it wasn't a valid agreement under California marital property law and that "there had never been a sufficient meeting of the minds between the McCourts," according to Frank McCourt's Massachusetts court papers.  At the hearing in the case earlier this month, McCourt's lawyer, Fred Bartlit Jr.

Judge rules Jackson trial jury will not be sequestered | U.S. News ...

The jury in the upcoming involuntary manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson’s doctor will not be sequestered, despite a request by defense lawyers who expect the case to be “the most publicized in history.”

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor ruled against removing the jurors from their homes during the four- to six-week trial starting in September, citing the estimated $500,000 cost and saying he had “tremendous faith” in the jury system.

“I do not find sequestration to be the answer in this case,” Pastor said at a hearing on Thursday. “I expect that the jurors will follow the high road.”

Jury selection is due to start on September 8 for the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray, with opening statements expected on September 27.

Murray, who was at Jackson’s side when he died in Los Angeles on June 25, 2009, is accused of delivering a fatal dose of the powerful anesthetic propofol to the pop star as a sleep aid, and then failing to monitor him properly.

Murray could face up to four years in prison if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The defense team has suggested that Jackson, 50, could have given himself a larger dose of the drug while the doctor was out of the singer’s bedroom. They have argued that massive expected media coverage of the trial could jeopardize the doctor’s right to fair trial.

“There is reasonable expectation that Dr. Murray’s trial will be the most publicized in history,” Murray’s lawyers wrote in their request for jury sequestration.

Pastor said he would give strict instructions to the jury to avoid reading or watching media reports of the trial, and said they would be eating their meals in the jury room during the court day to restrict their exposure to the public.

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