Paris Jackson has won her bid to force three lawyers to return $625,000 in bonuses paid by John Branca, the executor of her father’s estate.
In a 23-page ruling, unsealed Tuesday and obtained by Rolling Stone, the retired judge, who long presided over Michael Jackson’s probate case and is now serving as a private referee on the complex case, granted Paris’ motion to claw back the 2018 payments. They include $250,000 to Jay Cooper of Greenberg Traurig, $125,000 to Jeryll Cohen of Saul Ewing, and $250,000 to the late, lead estate lawyer Howard Weitzman of Kinsella Holley Iser Kump Steinsapir.
“The referee cannot find the bonus payments are just and reasonable based on the information provided. In fact, on the evidence presented, the bonus amounts paid appear arbitrary — what Mr. Branca determined was appropriate,” retired judge Mitchell Beckloff wrote in his ruling. “While Mr. Branca may, in fact, know better than anyone about the value of legal fees, there must be some specific and detailed factual basis for an order finding fees are just and reasonable.”
Beckloff said the estate failed to show why the hourly fees paid to the lawyers were “insufficient compensation” for the services provided. He ruled the bonus payments “shall be returned to the estate,” and that going forward, “the executors shall not make any bonus payments to an attorney as a payment on account without the written consent of all beneficiaries or an order of the referee/court.”
The ruling came after the actress and musician asked the court to “set clear guardrails” for payments to estate lawyers. In addition to challenging the bonuses as “suspect,” she sought an order requiring the estate to withhold at least 40 percent of billed fees to “sufficiently motivate” the lawyers to file timely disclosures and avoid “bloated submissions.”
In his ruling, which was signed April 29, Beckloff ordered the estate to withhold 30 percent of attorneys’ fees “until there is an order approving the payment of such fees.” He also credited Paris as being the “catalyst” behind another recent ruling requiring the executors to file petitions for attorneys’ fees for the years 2019 through 2024 by Sept. 15, 2026.
A spokesperson for Paris cheered the latest order in a statement sent to Rolling Stone.
“Paris has always been focused on what’s best for her family, and this ruling is a massive win for them,” the statement said. “After years of delay, the Jackson family will finally get the transparency and accountability measures Paris has fought for. The Jackson Estate is supposed to be a prudent, fiscally responsible entity that supports the Jackson family – not a slush fund to help John Branca live out his Hollywood mogul fantasies. After months of engaging in sexist, scorched-earth tactics against a beneficiary, it’s time for John Branca to acknowledge his many missteps and act in the best interest of the family he has a fiduciary duty to protect.”
A spokesperson for the estate issued a statement saying the executors disagreed with the retired judge’s decision but planned to “fully respect it.” The statement noted Beckloff praised the work of the executors, writing in his ruling that “there can be no dispute that under the expertise of the executors, this estate has transformed from teetering on the brink of bankruptcy in June of 2009 when Michael Jackson died to the financial powerhouse that it is today.”
“While the court has previously approved several other bonuses to outside counsel over the years for their extraordinary services, and this was the first time they were the subject of objections, the executors have always understood that legal fees are subject to court approval and have always required outside counsel to agree to return any funds to the estate if the payments were not approved,” the statement said. “And, to be clear, none of the $625,000 in bonuses – which represent only a small fraction of the Estate’s expenses for the period in question – were paid to the Executors, and the court did not in any way say that the executors had made any inappropriate payments to themselves.”
Paris, 28, is a beneficiary of her father’s estate along with her brothers Prince, 29, and Bigi, 24. In recent court filings obtained by Rolling Stone, Paris’ lawyers said she did not enter into the legal battle lightly. “This litigation is painful for Paris. It is a distraction from her own life and her own career,” they wrote.
Michael Jackson was 50 years old when he died from an accidental overdose of the surgery-strength anesthetic propofol at his rented mansion in Los Angeles on June 25, 2009.
POND Creative*