Entertainment & Sports Law

Guitar-Wielding Lawyer Rocks Fender

A New Jersey lawyer, who by day practices entertainment law and by night plays guitar and tours the country with one of his two rock bands, has helped win a key trademark case over Fender Musical Instruments. The case began when lawyer Ron Bienstock was doing due diligence for a…

Apr 9, 2009 4:13 PM CDT

Giants Must Pay $1M Bonus to Burress Even Though He Shot Himself

After accidentally shooting himself in the leg in a Manhattan nightclub last year, Plaxico Burress was suspended for four games by the New York Giants and fined an additional amount equal to one week’s salary. But the combined penalty of a little over $1 million suffered by the star wide…

Apr 6, 2009 6:38 PM CDT

Despite Defamation Suit, Courtney Love Twitters On

What a news agency describes as “online rants” have landed singer Courtney Love in court. Love is being sued in California by an Austin, Texas, fashion designer known as Boudoir Queen, for allegedly posting defamatory material about the plaintiff on Twitter and MySpace, reports the Associated Press. The Los Angeles…

Mar 27, 2009 8:45 PM CDT

Britney Spears Legal Bills Top $2.7M Under Dad’s Conservatorship

Onstage, Britney Spears is the boss. But offstage, it’s an entirely different situation for the 27-year-old pop superstar. In the 14 months since a judge determined she could not handle her own affairs and appointed her father, Jamie Spears, as a conservator, she has racked up an ever-increasing total of…

Mar 25, 2009 7:20 PM CDT

Curtain Closed on Two Broadway Producers Guilty of $407M Fraud

A Canadian judge has found two producers, whose company brought to stage “Ragtime” and “Phantom of the Opera” guilty of participating in widespread accounting fraud. Bloomberg reports that Garth Drabinsky and Myron Gottlieb, who co-founded Toronto-based Livent in the 1990s, allegedly raised hundreds of millions in financing, then misstated the…

Mar 25, 2009 3:50 PM CDT

LA Lawyer Seeks Revision of Scrabble Word-Score Rules

The rules of the game in Scrabble haven’t changed since 1948. But it’s about time they did, a Los Angeles lawyer argues. A classic board game in which players are awarded points based on fortuitous word placement in a crossword pattern and the number of times rarely used letters can…

Mar 19, 2009 12:14 AM CDT

Kanye West Charged in Paparazzi War

In the latest development in an escalating war between celebrities and paparazzi, rap artist and producer Kanye West and his road manager have been criminally charged over an incident at Los Angeles International Airport last year in which they allegedly smashed cameras. West, 31, is charged with vandalism, grand theft…

Mar 18, 2009 10:16 PM CDT

In Surprise Pick, Patton Boggs Partner Elected Head of NFL Union

A partner at Patton Boggs with an expertise in white-collar criminal defense has been elected to head the players union for the National Football League. The election of DeMaurice Smith on Sunday came as a surprise, the New York Times reports. Former player Troy Vincent had been considered the front…

Mar 16, 2009 12:16 PM CDT

Novelist Clive Cussler Told to Pay $13.9M Legal Bill in Licensing Dispute

A best-selling novelist who lost a California lawsuit contending that moviemakers breached a licensing agreement had already been ordered to pay $5 million in damages. But now another $13.9 million has been added to his litigation tab. Under a Los Angeles Superior Court ruling this week, Clive Cussler must pay…

Mar 11, 2009 7:43 PM CDT

Blank Rome Opens LA Office With 5 Lateral Partners

Philadelphia-based Blank Rome has opened a new office in Los Angeles today that is the first step towards a bigger footprint both on the West Coast and in Asia. Five lateral partners from four different firms are launching the LA office, which has space for 20 attorneys, reports the Philadelphia…

Mar 3, 2009 1:09 AM CST

Spike Lee Muses About US Culture in Appearance at Dewey & LeBoeuf

Filmmaker Spike Lee explained why he doesn’t bring more legal problems to his lawyers at Dewey & LeBoeuf in a talk he gave there yesterday afternoon. “Your rates are too high,” Lee quipped, before he launched into his topic—the role of black media in shaping race relations. A reporter from…

Feb 26, 2009 3:23 PM CST

Legal: Speedo LZR Racer; Not: Alleged Target Version of ‘Foxers’ Line?

In the hotly contested world of competitive sports, high-tech materials and innovative designs can shave critical seconds off an athlete’s time. So use of certain equipment, such as the Speedo LZR Racer suit many consider state-of-the-art, has been hotly debated in the governing bodies of various sports, and even the…

Feb 21, 2009 1:24 AM CST

Ohio Judge Axes NCAA Ban on Lawyers for Student-Athletes

An Ohio judge’s finding that a National Collegiate Athletic Association ban on student-athletes using attorneys in contract negotiations is “arbitrary and capricious” could encourage significant legal representation changes nationally concerning Major League Baseball draft picks. The ruling came in a case filed by Andrew Oliver, an Oklahoma State pitcher. Drafted…

Feb 13, 2009 7:56 PM CST

Most of Roger Clemens Defamation Suit is Dismissed

Finding that trainer Brian McNamee would have faced potential prosecution if he didn’t cooperate with an investigation by Sen. George Mitchell on steroids use in Major League Baseball, a federal judge in Houston has dismissed most of the defamation suit filed against McNamee by star pitcher Roger Clemens. Statements made…

Feb 12, 2009 10:04 PM CST

Another Star MLB Player is Charged in Steroids-Related Case: Miguel Tejada

In a week already packed with news about alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball during the past decade, another player has taken center stage. All-star shortstop Miguel Tejada of the Houston Astros (and formerly of the Baltimore Orioles) has been charged in a criminal information with lying…

Feb 11, 2009 1:20 AM CST