CelebriTrials Linked by Large Legal Fees
Stevens Case Is Dismissed.
Over the weekend, in our April 5, 2009 post, we discussed the criminal trial of former Senator Ted Stevens—which likely cost him at least $2 million in legal fees to defend.
Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan dismissed the case at the Attorney General’s request, but appointed an outside lawyer to investigate the conduct of six members of the prosecution team about allegedly not providing exculpatory evidence to the Stevens’ defense team. The investigation could lead to reprimands, disbarment, and even criminal charges as against the attorneys subject to investigation.
A good editorial on the whole story—“Not-so-even on Stevens”—can be found in the April 9, 2009 Opinion section of The Orange County Register.
Phil Spector Spends Plenty of Legal Fees In The Clarkson Criminal Case.
Phil Spector
is no neophyte to the music world or to using attorneys in lawsuits over royalties. It has been reported that he spent up to $5.7 million in legal bills over a 20-year period in litigation over certain music royalty rights. That legal spending has spilled over and escalated in the criminal trial over the Clarkson shooting.
Mr. Spector has had no less than 11 criminal defense attorneys representing him during the course of the case, supplemented by 4 investigators, 5 paralegals, a jury consultant, numerous expert witnesses, and a slew of consultants never called as trial witnesses. The final tally is not known, but one criminal defense attorney charged $1 million for one year of representation and the expert witnesses charged over $500,000. The public record also shows that he has in the past couple of years borrowed $2.1 million from certain of his assets.
To show you how expensive (not to mention emotionally draining) trials can be, Mr. Spector and the Westin Bonaventure Hotel recently wrangled over a $105,000 bill for stays during his first trial (which resulted in a mistrial). Although the matter was settled, it does illustrate the magnitude of costs of a lengthy trial—even though the expense only related to staying near the criminal court venue for the trial.
For more details on the expenses relating to the Clarkson criminal trial, see Harriet Ryan’s article “Spector’s long legal battles may be sapping his fortune,” which was reported in the April 8, 2009 issue of The Los Angeles Times.
