Howard Weitzman, Defense Lawyer for the Famous, Dies at 81
A master practitioner of the courthouse-steps news conference, he often made his case in the court of public opinion. He also made lawsuits disappear.
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The lawyer Howard Weitzman, known for his many high-profile clients, speaking at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills, Calif., in 2014. The subject of his talk was the trial of O.J. Simpson whose case he decided to drop before the trial began.Credit.Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images
Howard Weitzman, an entertainment lawyer whose client list bristled with the names of some of the nation’s most famous, and infamous, celebrities including Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber and, for two days, O.J. Simpson died on Wednesday at his home in the Pacific Palisades section of Los Angeles. He was 81.
Another Possible Aretha Franklin Will Surfaces in Estate Dispute
Lawyers for two of the singer’s sons say the document was in the files of a law firm she had engaged to help her with estate planning.
Aretha Franklin was initially thought to have died without a will, but now still another document that may represent her last wishes has been found.Credit.Paul Natkin/Getty Images
The estate of Aretha Franklin just got a bit more complicated.
When the legendary singer died at 76 in 2018, her family assumed she had no will. Then, nine months later, a few handwritten documents, which may represent two or even three wills, were found in Franklin’s home, leading to a dispute among her four sons over how her estate should be run and its assets divided.
Jeffrey Epstein’s Manhattan mansion fetches $51 million after a judge denies a request to freeze the sale.
The seven-story mansion on East 71st Street was sold earlier this week.Credit.Stephanie Diani for The New York Times
March 11, 2021
Jeffrey Epstein’s Manhattan mansion has been sold to an unidentified buyer for about $51 million, which will go to a fund providing restitution for the disgraced financier’s sexual abuse victims.
A lawyer for Mr. Epstein’s estate said the seven-story mansion on East 71st Street was sold earlier this week although for considerably less than the initial $88 million asking price.
The sale was completed after a judge in the U.S. Virgin Islands rejected an attempt by the territory’s attorney general to freeze the sale of any further asset by his estate, which is now worth about $240 million. Once valued at nearly $600 million, the estate has been paying out expenses including taxes and contributions to the restitution fund, which has dis
The father’s lawyer shared his opinions on the conservatorship on CNN and NBC News recently, almost a month after a documentary examining the arrangement was released.
While the estate continues to dispute the amount sought by the I.R.S., it has agreed to pay or put aside the bulk of its earnings from royalties and other revenue streams.