Attorney Howard Weitzman, who had a client list, including Michael Jackson, OJ Simpson, Marlon Brando, Morgan Freeman, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ron Meyer and CAA, passed away at the age of 81.
Founder Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump & Aldiseret died of cancer in his hometown of Los Angeles on Wednesday.
One of the first lawyers to withdraw from defending NFL superstar Simpson in his infamous criminal trial over the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman, Weitzman, was a source of power between the sharp elbows of Hollywood lawyers. Unlike many people at the highest level of his profession, Weitzman worked on both sides of the Hollywood showdown. After serving the class of 1965 USC Law Center as EPP, Corporate Operations for Universal Studios, from 1995 to 1998, he taught at his alma mater for more than a decade.
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However, it was in relentless service to his clients that the fast and strategic Weitzman made his mark in legal circles.
After the death of the King of Pop in 2009, Weitzman works with co-lawyer John Branca and the recording of John McClain to make Jackson’s estate deep in the red. Within a few years, the estate flourished, thanks to the sale of $ 50 million in the 50% profitable stake in Sony / ATV Music Publishing to Sony Corp which Weitzman helped to orchestrate.
So late last year, Weitzman continued to Thriller the singer’s flag to repeat the Jackson estate in its $ 100 million fight against HBO Leaving Neverland documentary and his claims of sexual misconduct by the artist with young boys. Weitzman pulled a decades-old contract between Jackson and the premium cable over a concert film, and managed to convince the courts to take the case to arbitration, even due to an appeal from HBO.
A two-time recipient of the Jerry Geisler Memorial Award as the outstanding attorney in Los Angeles County, Weitzman, is survived by his wife Margaret and his two sons.