Ruling expected on suit over DVD Express merger.

The story behind every failed dot-com seems to have its share of characters, and the one now playing out in Los Angeles Superior Court is no exception.

Later this month, a judge is expected to rule on a request to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that Kenneth Abdalla, an investor who bought O.J. Simpson's Brentwood home for $4 million, and his associated companies committed fraud in the wake of a failed online venture.

The plaintiff is Michael Dubelko, former president of Cannell Studios and Lions Gate Studios, who founded online retailer DVD Express Inc. in 1996. He claims he was misled into merging the company three years later with a similar venture backed by one of Abdalla's investment vehicles. The merged company, called Express.com, filed for bankruptcy in March 2001.

Dubelko is seeking as much as $300 million in damages.

Adding to the name recognition in the case, Dubelko has retained O'Donnell & Shaeffer LLP partner Pierce O'Donnell as lead counsel.

Also named in the suit is Abdalla's Waterton Management LLC, the investment firm that backed his Internet venture and has invested in Jerry's Famous Deli Inc.

Among Dubelko's complaints are that Abdalla's Maximum Holdings Inc., which operated an Internet DVD portal, intentionally inflated the traffic that site received to make it appear more valuable.

In addition, Dubelko claims Abdalla, who had earlier said be would make a direct investment in DVD Express, changed the terms of the deal in the days before the merger was consummated. Under the new terms, court documents say, Abdalla said he would invest $25 million in Maximum as working capital after the merger was concluded. The new structure reflected Abdalla's concern that Dubelko might not close the deal with Maximum if Abdalla's investment was made straight into DVD Express, according to court filings.

The suit alleges that Abdalla planned to fund that $25 million through the sale of an equity stake to a British company, only to use the funds to buy back the interests of another investor.

The defendants have dismissed the suit as "frivolous."

John Gordon, a partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges LLP, returned a call placed to Richard Schirtzer, lead counsel for the defendants, and declined comment.

John Shaeffer, a partner at O'Donnell & Shaeffer LLP, also declined to comment.