*Paris Jackson, the daughter of the late Michael Jackson, has sparked a legal dispute by filing a complaint against the executors of her father’s estate, alleging financial mismanagement over a $625,000 legal fee request for 2018.
As we reported earlier, court documents obtained by Us Magazine reveal Paris’s concerns about “so-called ‘premium payments’ for unrecorded attorney time,” with her lawyer questioning the lack of justification for these fees.
“During this one six-month period alone in 2018, Executors request that the Court approve $625,000 in payments to three law firms for what they say is uncaptured time, without explanation as to why counsel was incapable of recording unbilled time, or why such a failure should not preclude payment,” the filing states. Paris demands a hearing to scrutinize the invoices and has called the fees “lavish gratuities bestowed upon already well-compensated counsel.”
In response, the estate, managed by executors John Branca and John McClain, filed a defense on July 15, as reported by PEOPLE, asserting that the attorneys’ expertise justified the payments. The estate emphasized the lawyers’ “experience, negotiating skills, relationships, and knowledge of the entertainment and international music publishing and recording businesses,” particularly citing their role in securing a $287 million return on the EMI investment when Sony purchased the estate’s share in 2018.
The estate’s filing notes, “It is not unusual and in fact is quite common, in the entertainment/music business for attorneys with the level of skills, experience, and relationships of Mr. Weitzman and Mr. Katz to receive compensation in addition to their hourly rate fee payment.” They further argued that the attorneys’ contributions “cannot be adequately measured or fairly compensated by an hourly rate fee payment.”
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Paris’s filing also pointed to delays in the executors’ responses to court inquiries, stating, “Despite repeated inquiries from the Court, Executors are unable to provide even remotely satisfactory explanation for their delay.” She urged the estate to propose a plan for faster fee approvals in the future, highlighting “several inconsistencies that demand close scrutiny of all fees and costs sought in the petition.”
The estate countered that the compensation was “well deserved and reasonable given the nature and difficulty of the tasks performed, the results achieved and the unprecedented benefit of the respective firms’ services to the Estate.”
A court hearing scheduled for July 16 will address the contested $625,000 fee request. The outcome could shape how the estate handles financial oversight moving forward, as Paris pushes for greater transparency and accountability in the management of her father’s legacy.
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB.COM: Michael Jackson’s Daughter Challenges Estate Executors Over $625K Legal Fees, Citing Mismanagement
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