Ovitz wins round in Burkle lawsuit.Lawyers for Michael Ovitz Michael S. Ovitz (b. December 14 1946, Los Angeles, California) is a former talent agent and Hollywood powerhouse who served as the head of the Creative Artists Agency from 1975 to 1995. have won a motion disqualifying dis·qual·i·fy tr.v. dis·qual·i·fied, dis·qual·i·fy·ing, dis·qual·i·fies 1. a. To render unqualified or unfit. b. To declare unqualified or ineligible. 2. a Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Superior Court judge in a lawsuit filed by billionaire Ron Burkle against the former super-agent. Burlde, who filed suit in February, alleges that Ovitz breached his part of an agreement to provide half the investment costs in future Internet business ventures, including the now-defunct CheckOut.com and TalkCity.com. Burkle claims that he invested more than $30 million while Ovitz contributed nothing. Within days of the filing, Ovitz's lawyers sought to disqualify To deprive of eligibility or render unfit; to disable or incapacitate. To be disqualified is to be stripped of legal capacity. A wife would be disqualified as a juror in her husband's trial for murder due to the nature of their relationship. Judge Susan Bryant-Deason. No reasons were given in court papers for the request, which the judge approved on March 10--and neither side has elaborated. "I'm not at liberty, and it's not appropriate to discuss that. It does not reflect negatively on the judge," said Marshall Grossman, a partner at Alschuler Grossman Stein & Kahan LLP LLP - Lower Layer Protocol who is representing Ovitz. Grossman would only note that both sides are entitled to an automatic disqualification of a judge under state law, which allows disqualification of a judge who may be "prejudiced against the party" so that a person "believes that he or she cannot have a fair and impartial trial or hearing." Meanwhile, Grossman has subpoenaed records from the California Public Employees' Retirement System, which invested hundreds of millions of dollars in two funds controlled by Yucaipa Cos., Burkle's investment firm. Grossman said he also subpoenaed records from a partnership run by Yucaipa Cos. and Burkle's estranged es·trange tr.v. es·tranged, es·trang·ing, es·trang·es 1. To make hostile, unsympathetic, or indifferent; alienate. 2. To remove from an accustomed place or set of associations. wife, Janet Burkle, who filed for divorce in June 2003. Grossman said that there is no record of a partnership arrangement between the two men. Burkle's lawyer, Patricia Glaser, a partner at Christensen Miller Fink Jacobs Glaser Weft and Shapiro LLP, declined to comment. |
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