Omar Sharif's Winning Tort Defense Tactic: Not Fighting $455K Case
After he hit a Beverly Hills, Calif., restaurant valet in the face during a night of drinking in 2005, actor Omar Sharif initially was apologetic and ready to cover the man’s costs.
But then the 76-year-old actor, who is famed for his wartime roles in Lawrence of Arabia and Dr. Zhivago, realized that, as one of his former lawyers puts it, he was apparently “being shaken down” for a big settlement over a minor injury in a civil action because of his celebrity, the Los Angeles Times reports. And, at that point, he tried an unusual tactic to avoid a hefty payout that seems to be working—he stopped defending the case prior to trial.
A default judgment was entered against Sharif in Los Angeles Superior Court for $455,000, including attorney fees. But because he is an Egyptian citizen with no assets in the United States, there is probably no realistic way to force him to pay it, the newspaper recounts. Although it won’t enhance his credit rating, the judgment also won’t prevent Sharif from traveling to the U.S. And, while it would theoretically be possible for the plaintiff, Juan Ochoa Anderson, 50, to collect against Sharif in Egypt, that would require a new trial there and translation of thousands of pages of American court papers into Arabic.
Meanwhile, Anderson’s attorney, John Carpenter, has racked up $127,000 in legal fees and costs on the case, according to court documents reviewed by the Times.
Anderson pressed charges against Sharif over what the actor’s former civil lawyer, Martin Singer, describes as a slap in the face, and Sharif pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery, for which he was sentenced to two years of probation. A restitution hearing this morning probably will result in a court-ordered payment of $2,500 or less, according to Sharif’s criminal attorney, Harland Braun.
Sharif will pay the restitution, Braun says, because otherwise he would be arrested.
Earlier coverage:
Court TV News (2005): “Actor Omar Sharif accused in racial spat with parking attendant”
Fox News (2007): “Actor Omar Sharif Pleads No Contest to Misdemeanor Battery Charge”
