Atkins has filed a lawsuit against prominent entertainment attorney John Branca and music executive John McClain, the estate’s executors. The firm claims it has not been paid for representing Mr Jackson in the two years leading up to his death in June 2009, saying that it ‘provided hundreds of hours of services to Jackson across nearly a dozen matters.’
In November 2009, the firm filed a claim for $204,204.36 and says the defendants refused to pay, eventually rejecting the invoice in writing in December last year.
Atkins’ attorney Stanton L. Stein writes in the complaint: ‘Defendants have failed to honor Jackson’s obligations under, and has materially breached, the agreement with Atkins, and any implied covenants therein, by failing to make the payments as required.’ The firm intends to receive the amount invoiced with interest and the costs of the lawsuit.
The case is one of many to have hit the pop icon’s estate since his death, including a royalty row with Quincy Jones and a profit suit from the director of ‘Thriller’.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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