Celebrities

Partnership Agreement Contributed to Beatles Discord, New Book Asserts

A new book on the breakup of the Beatles says the group’s partnership agreement contributed to discord among the band members that continued after they stopped creating music together. The Los Angeles Times reviewed the book, You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup. According to the…

Jul 7, 2010 3:52 PM CDT

A Tearful Lindsay Lohan Is Sentenced to 90 Days in Jail

Actress Lindsay Lohan was sentenced Tuesday to 90 days in jail followed by 90 days of rehab for violating probation in two 2007 cases of driving under the influence. The sentence by Judge Marsha Revel of Beverly Hills was tougher than prosecutors had sought, the Los Angeles Times reports. Revel…

Jul 7, 2010 11:38 AM CDT

Scottie Pippen Scores $2M Verdict in Law Firm Malpractice Case

He was seeking $8 million. But a jury awarded former Chicago Bulls star Scottie Pippen $2 million this week in his legal malpractice claim against a Windy City law firm, reports the National Law Journal in an article reprinted in New York Lawyer (reg. req.). “It was not all that…

Jun 30, 2010 7:28 PM CDT

Ex-Wife of Michael Douglas Seeks Half of His Earnings from ‘Wall Street 2’

Is a sequel the same thing as a spinoff? That appears to be a central question in a looming legal battle by the ex-wife of actor Michael Douglas for half of the money he will make for his work on a sequel to the Wall Street movie directed by Oliver…

Jun 29, 2010 8:15 PM CDT

Lawyer’s Childhood Baseball Idol, ‘The Bird,’ Helped Him Make Prizewinning Film

In 1976, Mike Cramer was 12 years old and the hottest rookie in baseball was Mark “The Bird” Fidrych of the Detroit Tigers. Cramer, who is now an Illinois lawyer, was in Tigers Stadium on June 28 of that year, sitting literally in the last row in left field as…

Jun 24, 2010 10:05 PM CDT

Girl, 9, Could Join Fray re Chess Giant’s Estate: Bobby Fischer to Be Exhumed for Paternity Test

Reversing a decision by a lower tribunal, the Supreme Court of Iceland has ordered that the body of chess great Bobby Fischer be exhumed to determine whether he is the father of a 9-year-old girl. Fischer died there in 2008 at age 64, apparently leaving no will. A United States-born…

Jun 17, 2010 9:35 PM CDT

Ex-Red Wings Star Fedorov in Foreclosure, Blames Law Firm for Loss of $60M

A former star player for the Detroit Red Wings is facing foreclosure. Sergei Fedorov owes more than $2 million on two palatial homes in Bloomfield Hills, according to foreclosure notices filed by the PrivateBank and Trust Co., reports the Detroit News. He has blamed Hyman Lippitt for some $60 million…

Jun 17, 2010 5:26 PM CDT

Accused in Michael Jackson’s Death, Doc Can Still Practice Medicine

Almost a year after the death of Michael Jackson, the personal physician charged with involuntary manslaughter for allegedly administering a lethal dose of a powerful anesthetic is still practicing medicine in California, Nevada and Texas. And a California judge said today that it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to prevent…

Jun 15, 2010 12:33 AM CDT

Ex-Bull Scottie Pippen Blames Law Firm for Bad Investments, Seeks $8M at Trial

A famous former basketball player for the Chicago Bulls says he lost money because an Illinois law firm didn’t do enough due diligence on the trusted adviser who allegedly cost him millions in bad investments. Scottie Pippen has already settled for $1.5 million with the bankrupt adviser, Robert Lunn. But…

Jun 9, 2010 11:34 PM CDT

Judge Raises Lindsay Lohan’s Bond Because of Bracelet Report

A Los Angeles judge raised Lindsay Lohan’s bond to $200,000 on Tuesday after an alcohol monitoring bracelet detected a small amount of liquor. Lohan’s lawyer, Shawn Chapman Holley, told CNN that her client posted the new bond. “Having just received the report, I am not in a position to speak…

Jun 9, 2010 1:24 PM CDT

Republican Candidate Infringed Henley’s Songs in YouTube Ads, Judge Says

California senatorial candidate Chuck DeVore violated rocker Don Henley’s copyrights on two songs when he used them as the basis for YouTube campaign commercials, a federal judge tentatively ruled this week. Although DeVore claimed that the First Amendment protects political speech and he had a fair use right to Henley’s…

Jun 4, 2010 2:31 PM CDT

No Permission, No Problem: Gary, Ind., Plans Michael Jackson Museum

You might think Indiana officials would have learned a lawsuit lesson from the Dillinger Museum. After a seven-year litigation saga, tourism officials in Hammond reached an undisclosed settlement with the great-nephew of notorious gangster John Dillinger that permitted the facility to reopen to the public. But now their Gary counterparts…

Jun 3, 2010 10:57 PM CDT

Obama’s Chief of Staff Is Subpoenaed as a Defense Witness in Blagojevich Corruption Trial

The chief of staff for President Barack Obama has been subpoenaed as a defense witness in the upcoming political corruption trial of Rod Blagojevich, the impeached ex-governor of Illinois. Rahm Emanuel is a “critical” witness for Blagojevich in the federal case to be tried in Chicago starting tomorrow, says defense…

Jun 2, 2010 8:16 PM CDT

Hulk Hogan Challenges Post Foods to a Lawsuit, Cites Humiliating Defeat in Cartoon Ad

Hulk Hogan claims in a lawsuit that a character named “Hulk Boulder” in a cartoon commercial for Cocoa Pebbles is a misappropriation of his likeness. In the commercial, a blond Hulk Boulder with a mustache takes on Flintstones characters in a wrestling match, according to stories in the Hollywood Reporter,…

May 28, 2010 3:43 PM CDT

Adviser to Stars Arrested in Alleged Ponzi Scheme Linked to Partner in Prominent Law Firm

An adviser to Hollywood actors and Court TV founder Steven Brill has been accused of using investment money to live lavishly, while diverting control of some of the funds to a partner in a prominent law firm and a national political official. Manhattan moneyman Kenneth I. Starr—no relation to the…

May 28, 2010 12:26 PM CDT