A man who was set on fire as a child by his father and befriended by Michael Jackson during his recovery reclaimed a condominium Friday that someone posing as the pop star’s cousin had been accused of bilking from him.

A superior court judge signed a default judgment returning the property to Dave Dave, formerly known as David Rothenberg, said his attorney, Brian Oxman.

Dave was also awarded $93,000 in damages, according to Oxman, who said he took on the case at Jackson’s request.

“This is a case where the most vulnerable was taken advantage of,” Oxman said.

Dave, 28, was 6 when his father doused him with kerosene and set him on fire in an Orange County motel room during a custody dispute. More than 90 percent of Rothenberg’s body was burned.

Dave alleged in a lawsuit filed in February that Darnello Jackson posed as Michael Jackson’s cousin to gain his trust and tricked him into signing over his $335,000 condominium in Inglewood.

The two met in 2003 at Jackson’s Neverland Ranch.

Darnello Jackson did not appear for the hearing or file court papers.

“All I can say now is that there is another side to this story,” he said by phone.

Source: Associated Press

By Sarah Birke

“It’s a musical celebration of Michael Jackson’s career, his music and his hit songs,” says Adrian Grant, Thriller Live’s producer. “I picked out the 28 songs knowing from previous shows what pleases the audience and then I threw in a couple of unfamiliar ones. I believe that Michael is sometimes underrated as an artist and as a songwriter and there’s a lot of great stuff on his albums that wasn’t released as hit singles.”

Thriller Live, which involves 14 dancers, a children’s ballet company and vocals from a gospel choir, grew out of the Michael Jackson Tribute, an annual production for fans premiered by Grant in 1991. “I’ve been thinking about turning it into a West-End event having seen shows such as Dancing in the Streets and Mamma Mia!, but, unfortunately, Michael had the court case and that took his career away for a couple of years. When that all ended, I started planning.”

Although the “King of Pop” has not been actively involved in the production, he is aware of it and has been invited to attend by Grant personally.

“I started the British fan club in 1988, and then Michael invited me out to Los Angeles when he was recording Dangerous. We got on really well; he’s really cool and laid-back,” says Grant. “I’ve been to Neverland numerous times and as the fan club grew, I started publishing. I’ve written three books now, approved by Michael.”

Arranged in rough chronological order, the first half of the show charts Jackson’s early career, from the Motown years through to the “Blame It on the Boogie” disco tracks - “all things to get the audience up and dancing”.

After the interval come the more familiar “Thriller” and “Beat It”, featuring detailed choreography under the direction of Kerys Nathan. Grant is confident that the show will prove a hit: “We’re hopefully going to tour the UK in the spring. And I’ve got further musical productions lined up for next year, but I can’t tell you what they are at the moment.”

Source: Independent Online

If Monty Panesar had his way, Mahatma Gandhi, Sachin Tendulkar , Michael Jackson and Madonna would all end up under the same roof for a dinner with the left-arm spinner.

The England Cricket Spinner added that Bishan Singh Bedi bowling at his best is the only other sporting event he will pay to watch apart from England’s 1966 soccer World Cup triumph.

“Mahatma Gandhi - I just loved the way he took on the British Empire and got them to leave without one bullet being used. I’d like to meet Michael Jackson, just because he is one of the most profiled celebrities in the world,” Monty said when asked to explain the reasons for his choice of people for a dinner.

“I’d add Madonna to the dinner because she is the queen of music, and I’d ask her if she has changed her image just to stay with the times and survive. Lastly, Sachin Tendulkar, but I wouldn’t upset him by talking about getting him out in India,” he said in an interview to Daily Telegraph.

Source: CricketZone.Com

UK sales of the Visionary singles total 200,000 copies according to Music Week.

Source: MJ.INF

A Superior Court judge will decide a lawsuit filed by Michael Jackson against a concert promoter to prevent arbitration over a disputed 1999 concert contract.

Jackson and his company, MJ Company, sued Marcel Avram and his German-based company for breach of contract. The lawsuit also seeks a preliminary injunction to prevent Avram from proceeding with arbitration.

In 2002, Jackson testified in a $21 million lawsuit brought by Avram, who accused the entertainer of backing out of two concerts on New Year’s Eve 1999.

The two ultimately settled, with Jackson agreeing to pay Avram $6.5 million, Jackson’s lawyer, Thomas C. Mundell, told Superior Court Judge Soussan G. Bruguera. He said the settlement also called for Avram to stop seeking further arbitration.

“Nobody pays $6.5 million and doesn’t get a full release from future claims,” Mundell said in his closing arguments during Tuesday’s nonjury trial.

Disputes regarding the settlement were to be resolved in Superior Court as part of an agreement between both sides, but Avram moved forward with arbitration, according to the lawsuit.

Avram’s attorney, Louis R. Miller, said his client should be entitled to $9.2 million that he spent promoting a benefit concert in South Korea. Miller also claimed Jackson committed fraud by not disclosing to Avram that Sony Music Entertainment owned the rights to footage of the concert.

Jackson left Avram “holding the bag” for the concerts, he said.

“It was an ugly situation,” Miller said.

Source: Associated Press

Tito Jackson CONFIRMED DATE with the O’JAYS!!

The next Tito Jackson concert date is August 25, 2006 Jacksonville, Florida at the Time Union Center!

Doors open at 7PM and the Show starts at 8PM

Visit: www.titojackson.com

Producer Timbaland is sending out a shout out to Michael Jackson to once again join superforces with Quincy Jones. Timbaland is convinced the “Thriller” magic can happen again if those two super powers reunite. He says “Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson - That was a beautiful marriage. And they shoulda stayed married: Michael lost it after he left Quincy. He coulda’ got it back. Still could!”

Source: AOL.Com, MJFC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 7, 2006

CONSPIRACY TO FORCE MICHAEL JACKSON INTO BANKRUPTCY REVEALED

In what could be one of the biggest conspiracies in entertainment history, documents have been sent to Michael Jackson, and his representatives, which reveal a deliberate plan by some former attorneys as well as associates and advisors, to force Mr.
Jackson into involuntary bankruptcy.

The documents reveal that former attorneys actively solicited other attorneys, vendors and creditors to “join in a petition to place the client in involuntary bankruptcy.”

Mr. Jackson who, on June 27, 2006, announced sweeping organizational changes, has instructed his legal team to investigate and file claims against those responsible for conspiracy, bad faith, and self dealing. These efforts may also result in civil and/or criminal charges, where appropriate.

In addition, there is a strong possibility that these documents will be forwarded to the U.S. Attorney General for review and possible involvement.

“Mr. Jackson is neither shocked or surprised by these revelations,” says Raymone K. Bain, Michael Jackson’s General Manager. “Based on the timing of events that have impacted his personal and professional life in recent years, he has long been suspicious that some of those whom he entrusted to act on his behalf, and to advise him with respect to his personal and business affairs, may not have always acted in his best interests.”

Source: Raymone K Bain

With the flurry of recent legal developments, we discovered a source that attempted to pull at least some of it together. E! Online tries to make sense of the latest entanglements.

First, there is a lawsuit initiated by Ayscough & Marar, which claimes Michael owes more than $200,000 in legal fees for services rendered in 2005.

That suit, filed on July 25 in Los Angeles Superior Court and obtained through TMZ.com, alleges that Michael hired Ayscough & Marar during the molestation trial to perform such tasks as obtaining court orders sealing civil cases filed against him from going to the press and orders that would stay discovery in those cases while the criminal trial was proceeding.

One of the cases that the firm worked on pushing back was the Marc Schaffel lawsuit filed against Michael by his former business associated. That resulted in a split decision last month.

Attorney Brent Ayscough claims that by the summer of 2005, “Nearly all of my time was spent on Michael Jackson cases.”

Ayscough claimes that until mid 2005, he was paid. But then, the responsibility for payment shifted from Michael’s business advisor, Ron Burkle, to the law firm of Mesereau & Yu. At that time, he claims that the payments stopped.

The suit reports that Mesereau & Yu were paid a lump sum payment of $2.6 million that was supposed to be divided among the members of Michael’s legal teams. Also according to the suit, Ayscough & Marar never received their due.

Mesereau & Yu is not named as a defendant. The suit does go on to detail numerous other significant debts owed by Michael, including one in excess of $300 million to Fortress Investment Group, over $1.6 million to his brother, Randy, and millions to a variety of other lawyers.

This brings us to the past Monday when a federal judge allowed a breach-of-contract suit brought by the Prescient Acquisition Group to move forward against MJ Publishing Trust.

Prescient is seeking at least $48 million for its part in helping Michael refinance $272.5 million bank loan as well as helping him to acquire a larger part of the Beatles catalogue.

The judge in this suit has ordered all parties, including Michael, to appear in court in September.

And we are not finished yet.

Trial is scheduled to begin on Tuesday in Michael’s lawsuit against concert promoter Marcel Avram.

Michael sued Avram last year, challenging Avram’s attempts to arbitrate a dispute regarding an earlier settlement rather than to have it go forward and be resolved in court.

Initially, Avram sued Michael in 2000 for backing out of a pair of millennium concerts that resulted in a loss of millions for Avram.

In 2003, a jury ruled that Michael owed Avram $5.3 million in damages. That is much less the requested $21 million.

Avram’s suit also requested damages be awarded for a couple of charity concerts that Michael cancelled. That part of the case was settled out of court.

Avram and Michael reached a tentative agreement that would allow Avram to sell CDs and DVDs from concerts that he had promoted earlier. it was agreed under the terms of this deal that any further claims regarding the cancelled concerts would be resolved in Superior Court.

Then, Sony Music, that controls the music, refused to allow Avram to release any new materials. This lead the promoter to pursue arbitration. Michael then turned around and filed another lawsuit, attempting to block Avram from resolving their dispute in any manner other than the one agreed upon.

In the meantime, Michael, relocated in Europe, is not expected to attend this trial.

Source: E! Online, MJFC

By David B. Caruso

For the second time in a year, a law firm representing Michael Jackson has parted company with the pop star, saying it hasn’t been paid and can’t get Jackson on the phone.

For his part, Jackson claims he fired the firm. In any event, a federal judge in Manhattan on Monday gave attorneys at Wachtel & Masyr permission to withdraw from a case in which a financial company claims the singer owes it $48 million.

In a letter to the judge, attorney William Wachtel described his trouble communicating with Jackson through a series of representatives. Over months, Wachtel said, he dealt with the singer through one intermediary after another, only to be informed repeatedly that they were quitting or had been fired.

The last straw came, he said, when Jackson dropped out of contact with the firm entirely after his only face-to-face meeting with his lawyers in June, at the luxurious Hotel de Crillon in Paris.

At the session, Jackson apologetically promised to be in better touch, Wachtel said - and that was the last they heard of him.

“Unfortunately, Mr. Jackson has failed to respond to every e-mail and telephone message left for him over the past four weeks,” Wachtel said.

A letter from Jackson to the law firm, dated July 17 and faxed to The Associated Press on Tuesday, said the singer had fired Wachtel.

“It is with deep regret that I must terminate the services of Wachtel & Masyr, LLP, effective immediately,” the pop star wrote.

The legal team is the second to leave the case. Attorneys from the firm of Latham & Watkins quit in November after reporting that their bills weren’t being paid and that it was impossible to communicate with Jackson.

U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel said Monday that he would allow Jackson to reorganise his legal team but that he wanted the parties back in court Sept. 5. The judge said Jackson must hire a new lawyer by then or appear in court himself.

Next up for Jackson could be New York attorney L. Londell McMillan, whose clients have included Prince and Stevie Wonder. Jackson’s representatives announced in late June that McMillan had been hired to coordinate the singer’s legal affairs.

The case involves the Prescient Acquisition Group, which claims it helped Jackson refinance $272.5 million in debt owed to the Bank of America and arrange $537.5 million in financing related to his ownership interest in the Beatles song library.

It is one of a number of recent suits involving Jackson and former business associates.

Last month, a California jury awarded a former Jackson adviser $900,000 related to work he did on videos intended to rehabilitate the pop star’s image. The jury awarded Jackson $200,000 in a cross-complaint.

Source: Associated Press