BRIDGEPORT, December, 2011 -- Michael Koskoff, a partner in the Connecticut-based law firm Koskoff , Koskoff & Bieder, has joined the legal team bringing a wrongful death case civil suit for the family of Michael Jackson. The suit is against entertainment giant Anschutz Entertainment Group and its concert promotion subsidiary, AEG Live, for the death of the pop icon.
Koskoff joins a Los Angeles law-firm, Panish, Shea & Boyle, in representing members of Jackson’s family, including his children Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson, and Prince, as well as their legal guardian, grandmother Katherine Jackson (Michael’s mother). Jackson’s father, Joseph, is not represented in the suit.
AEG, a corporation that produces and promotes live entertainment, owns and operates concert venues, clubs, theaters, arenas and stadiums, including the Staples Center in Los Angeles where Michael Jackson had been rehearsing for his worldwide concert tour, “This Is It.”
Rehearsals for Jackson’s long-awaited comeback tour had begun in April of 2009. The legendary singer went into cardiac arrest and died on June 25, 2009.
The suit alleges that AEG had arranged to retain Dr. Conrad Murray, a cardiologist, to serve as Jackson’s personal, on-call physician. Murray, 58, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in connection with Jackson’s death from a drug overdose. Prosecutors in the criminal case argued that Murray behaved recklessly by using a surgical anesthetic to treat the 50-year-old singer’s insomnia and was therefore criminally negligent in the performer's death.
Murray acknowledged giving Jackson Propofol as a sleep aid, but denied any wrongdoing. The powerful anesthetic is normally administered only in hospital settings.
The Los Angeles County coroner blamed Jackson's death on Propofol intoxication and ruled it a homicide.
More than two years after Jackson died, Murray was sentenced to four years in county jail and was required to pay nominal fines as well.
The civil lawsuit filed by Katherine Jackson accuses AEG of negligence in retaining Murray and forcing Jackson to agree to be under his care or to risk having the tour canceled. The suit also alleges that AEG participated in allowing Murray to act without adhering to proper medical standards.
Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder, nationally known for personal injury, medical malpractice, product liability, and class actions, concentrates its practice in handling cases for people who suffer serious personal injury or economic harm. Attorneys from KK&B have been responsible for important changes in the conduct of corporate and government defendants. The firm has offices in Bridgeport, Danbury, New Haven, and Stamford.
