lawsuit

Want a nearly $4,000 hotel stay for just a $1? Be prepared to leap on February 15 when the JW Marriott at L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles celebrates its first birthday by offering 10 "Happy Birthday" packages for $1.00. The package includes overnight accommodations in the Chairman Suite, the hotel's luxurious 1,566 square-foot suite over looking the Los Angeles skyline, two glasses of Champagne at gLAnce Wine Bar, breakfast for two at LA Market restaurant and complimentary valet parking.

The "Happy Birthday" package will go on sale at 8:00 a.m. PST on February 15 for $1.00. The package will be available for a Friday or Saturday night stay only between August 6, 2011 and September 10, 2011. The package will be available online only at www.lalivemarriott.com/birthday. To book, enter code ES6.

The JW Marriott Hotel Los Angeles at L.A. LIVE is a sophisticated hotel in downtown Los Angeles and is part of the L.A. LIVE sports, residential, and entertainment district that includes Staples Center, the Los Angeles Convention Center and is the future home of Farmers Field. The hotel has 878 guest rooms, a nine treatment room spa, full service fitness center and outdoor pool, diverse dining options, including celebrity chef Kerry Simon's LA Market.

Big news in the De Beers antitrust deal which promised millions in damages to those who bought diamonds between 1994 and 2006. This week a U.S. federal appeals court rejected the De Beers antitrust deal on a major technical issue. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the lower court had improperly certified a nationwide class of indirect purchasers. The $295 million ruling was for two types of claimants, direct purchasers that acquired rough gem diamonds directly from De Beers or one of its competitors and indirect purchasers,entities or individuals that acquired either rough or cut-and-polished gem diamonds but did not do so directly from De Beers or its competitors. Both consumers and jewelry retailers fall into this second category. The direct purchasers were to receive $22.5 million of the $295 million fund, while $272.5 million was allotted to the indirect purchaser claims so this ruling affects the bulk of the lawsuit. A website had been created to help those looking to to file claims.

In a 75-page ruling, Judge Kent A. Jordan accepted an appeal made by 34 of the indirect purchasers, which said that purchasers had claims under widely varying state laws and that some of those plaintiffs would be barred from pursuing the claims under the laws of their own states. A comprehensive piece on Law.com explains that a single objector from Texas had exposed a fatal flaw in the lower court's class certification analysis. The variation in state laws represents an "insurmountable hurdle to certification of the indirect purchaser class" according to Judge Jordan.

Under the terms of the indirect purchaser settlement, De Beers had agreed not to contest certification of a settlement class of indirect purchasers and promised to establish a settlement fund of $250 million to be paid to class members of that class. In May 2008, U.S. District Court Judge Stanley R. Chesler granted final approval to the settlement but the appeal said that Chesler had been too quick to certify the class as a whole, ignoring the various state laws that precluded some members for pursuing an indirect purchaser claim.The case has been returned to the U.S. District Court in New Jersey for further consideration which means that anyone expecting a payout in this case is going to have to wait a while longer.

More bad news for embattled television chef Gordon Ramsay, he has been sued by a wine merchant for not paying his bills. Wineberry America, an importer of fine wines, says that Ramsay, his backers the Blackstone Group, and the hotel The London NYC didn't pay for $40,900 of wine that was ordered and delivered, according to the lawsuit filed in New York. It delivered wines to Ramsay's New York City restaurant from July 2007 until November 2009 according to court papers. At some point though, the bills weren't getting paid and the company eventually decided to file suit.

In March we learned that Gordon Ramsay New York, a subsidiary of Gordon Ramsay Holdings, was on the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance list of delinquent taxpayers. On the list of the top 250 delinquent business taxpayers Gordon Ramsey New York clocked in at number 198 with a debt of $377,887.77. The company is said to be working to resolve the debt.

Gordon Ramsay has had money problems since the recession began. In 2009 accountants told Ramsay the wanted to put his business into administration and that he owed millions in debt. Ramsay has struggled back from the circumstances, a period of time he referred to as "the worst bollocking ever" and the worst year of his life. He sold off his restaurants in Los Angeles and Paris back to the hotels they are in and pulled out of other cities. His restaurants have also been out of the list of the world's top restaurants since 2008. It's a good thing he's got a television career to fall back on.

Some embarrassing wine news came out of France this past week when a French court found 12 French winemakers guilty of running a scam that involved intentionally mislabeling wine bottles being sold to the American market. In 2008 French investigators noticed that the volume of pinot noir coming out of a certain region of the country were much higher than expected, and after a yearlong investigation it came to light that the winemakers were cutting the pinot noir with less expensive merlot and shiraz.

The wine giant E&J Gallo, who bought the wine and sold it to consumers under the Red Bicyclette label, has said that they're "deeply disappointed" by the fraud and are no longer selling Red Bicyclette to their customers.

The New York Daily News reported last week that five women's charities -- including an eating disorder program -- will share $2 million from a class-action settlement with major modeling agencies, as ordered by a federal judge. The money is what is left over after thousands of aspiring and established models got their share of a $21 million settlement with the agencies, including Wilhelmina, Ford and Click. The models sued in 2002, claiming the agencies fixed prices. A settlement was reached in 2005, but legal disputes delayed the final payouts. Manhattan Federal Judge Harold Baer originally ruled that after the models and their lawyers were paid, the remaining $6 million would be divvied up among the charities. The models and their lawyers appealed his decision, and after recalculating the payouts, a $2 million pool was left. Baer signed a final order that included $347,826 for Columbia University's eating disorders program and $173,913 for its heroin detox program. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute will receive $86,956 for its "Heart Truth" campaign and New York University School of Medicine will receive $347,826 for two heart research studies aimed at women.

Oxidized wine can be a nightmare for any winemaker. Francis Ford Coppola's winery is suing Vinocor, the maker of specialized screw caps and custom bottles for the Coppola's Encyclopedia wine series. The wines were created to showcase varietals that best represent the culture and traditions of different winegrowing regions and have distinctive beaker-like bottles. Coppola's team says that defective bottles and caps ended up ruining 55,000 cases of wine.

Francis Ford Coppola Presents is taking on Vinocor USA, saying that they paid $685,000 for the packaging but that the first shipment had bottles with chipped glass and caps that had uneven threading and were bent. According to Courthouse News Service, Coppola has said that he complained about the first shipment and Vinocor promised it would fix the problem. Coppola says he ordered another 100,000 screw caps and another round of bottles, but they were also defective. The bottles and caps leaked and allowed air in, causing oxidation and tainting the wine. Coppola's winery wants a return of money spent as well as unspecified damages.

Thanks to those of you who forwarded me the latest on the Nicolas Cage saga,This week we saw his two New Orleans houses listed in a sheriff's sale and heard rumors that he is selling his castle in Bath, England. Many have speculated about what could have happened to Cage, a man who has made a great deal of money over the years for starring in many Hollywood blockbusters.

Now it turns out that Cage has someone to blame, his business manager Samuel Levin. TMZ has a copy of a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The suit claims that Levin was reckless and incompetent and put Cage into a situation in which he has to sell off major assets and is facing tax liabilities (he owes the IRS over $6 million). Cage wants at least $20 million minimum from Levin in order to set things right, a number that reflects just how much Cage has lost over real estate deals in the past couple of years. Levin worked for Cage seven years but it wasn't until he fired Levin that Cage said he learned the full extent of the damage done.


[Thanks Stephen and Bill]

Bartholomew Broadbent let me know that his father Michael Broadbent has settled his lawsuit against Random House for defamation of character for his potrayal in the book The Billionaire's Vinegar by Benjamin Wallace. The book centered on the infamous Jefferson wine bottles and in Broadbent's view suggested that Michael Broadbent, an esteemed wine writer and auctioneer and head of Christie's wine department from 1966 to 1992 had behaved in an unprofessional manner. Broadbent's relationship with Hardy Rodenstock, the discoverer of the bottles was called into account.

The book tells the story of German collector, Rodenstock who had allegedly found rare bottles of Chateau Lafite walled up in a basement in Paris. An 1787 Lafite engraved Th:J sparked worldwide interest because it was thought that Jefferson had bought the bottles when he was in Paris serving as ambassador. Three of the bottles were sold at Christie's, where Broadbent worked, between 1985 and 1987 including the the 1787 Lafite which was bought by Malcolm Forbes for $156,450 fin a 1985 auction.

The billionaire in the title is William Koch who sued Rodenstock claiming that he was the source for four Jefferson bottles that Koch bought in 1988. Those bottles are now believed to be fake. Rodenstock has said that the bottles were genuine but has not submitted them for testing. The book sold well and a Will Smith-produced film of the story is in development. Broadbent told Decanter that the sum he settled for was ''not excessive, but enough to buy a good few cases of wine, and to give something to the wine trade benevolent fund." He also said he was celebrating with a magnum of Mouton 1990 at a dinner he and his wife Daphne held for his legal team at his club, Brooks's in Mayfair. He is considering whether or not to take out an injunction on the film.

Author Benjamin Wallace has defended his book. His statement, published on Dr. Vino, says that Broadbent has "chosen to blame the messenger, and doubly so that he is blaming the messenger for something the messenger is not actually saying." Wallace says that his book never portrayed Broadbent as acting in bad faith. Random House has agreed not to distribute the book in the U.K. but it remains available in the United States and elsewhere.

Coach and Target are at it again. In 2006 the luxury handbag brand took on the retailer over designs that looked similar to their offerings and that case ended in a private settlement. Now Coach is ready to step back into court with Target over a fresh set of designs that look just a little too close to their own much-more-expensive offerings. Coach filed a complaint last week in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. At issue are Coach's Ergo bags and the Signature Patchwork bags similar to the one shown at right. Coach says that starting this summer Target began to sell knockoffs of these bags.

The craze for the handbags has lead to a rapid uptick in a lookalikes in the past few years. Once a popular style hits the mainstream it is rapidly copied. While out-and-out counterfeits are illegal and relatively easy to identify the business of similarity is far muddier. Earlier this year Gucci took on Guess? Inc. for trademark infringement saying that the company's use of the "g" logo and interlocking G pattens were too similar and damaging to the Gucci brand. Both Coach and Gucci are seeking similar resolution in the form of damages, attorneys fees and injunctions against selling the similar designs.

As if a lawsuit in state court weren't enough, Leibovitz may find herself in front of a federal judge, soon. Italian photographer Paolo Pizzetti filed the complaint, alleging that Leibovitz had hired him to take site-scouting photos and then used his product – without permission – in a LavAzza calendar, passing the photos off as her own. Specific sites shot include the Trevi Fountain in Rome and Plaza San Marco in Venice. The calendar was released last October. Pizzetti is looking for $150,000 per infringement and other unspecified damages. The Leibovitz camp has no comment yet, as it hasn't reviewed Pizzetti's filings.

Actress Claire Forlani may have played the girlfriend of an artist in one of my favorite movies, "Basquiat," but she's no fan of one art dealer. Forlani is being sued by art dealer Paul Rusconi after she sent out a mass email to friends saying that he sold her some fake pieces. Forlani's email said that he overcharged her on some Warhol pieces and also misrepresented other pieces as works by William Claxton and Keith Haring. Rusconi said he did nothing wrong and is seeking nearly $25 million in damages. Forlani's lawyer, Marty Singer, told TMZ that the lawsuit is "is absurd and totally without merit."

Now, the Cliff Walk -- or, at least, the City of Newport, the State of Rhode Island and the Preservation Society of Newport County, owner of the Breakers mansion, whose grounds the path crosses -- is the target of a lawsuit before the Rhode Island Supreme Court, according to a story in The Providence Journal by reporter Mike Stanton.

The argument: it's hard for tourists to determine where the path-proper ends, and dangerously unstable rocky terrain begins. That's what happened nine summers ago to one honeymooning tourist, Simcha Berman, then 23. He was walking along the path with his new wife when they took a few steps towards the ocean to get a better look at the waves. The path gave way beneath him, Berman fell on to the rocks below, and is now a quadriplegic. It's not the first major incident on the Cliff Walk either, Stanton's article cites two deaths in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and the newspaper's blog reports that just last summer, an Indiana woman fell from the path to serious injuries.

The court will decide whether Berman is entitled to millions, and the question is, what, if anything should be done to the Cliff Walk to prevent such accidents from occurring? Should the walk be fenced off? It's easy to see how that would really interfere with the experience of the ocean vista. Or is this a case of tourists simply not using common sense? (That seems to be the take of the Providence Journal, given the headline: Visitors to Newport Often Put Themselves at Risk.)

When I visited Newport a couple of weeks ago, I did spot a warning sign near the Breakers. It first concerned itself with making sure that tourists properly respected the rights of the the property owners, but then, it clearly stated "this trail has rugged terrain and can be difficult to pass." Although, I have to say, this particular sign didn't say anything about the potential for serious injury or even death on the walk. Perhaps it's implied, but a stroll along the Cliff Walk certainly didn't seem like anything too frightening, even on that particular moody, foggy gray day.

One of Newport's grand Cliff Walk estates, Hopedene is on the market for $19.5 million. Pictures are below.

Way back in 2006 we mentioned that a cognac using Duke Ellington's name was going to be launched but now three years later his family has filed a federal lawsuit in New York. The family of the music legend says that Harbrew Imports used the name "Duke Ellington XO Cognac" without getting proper permission to use Duke's name and signature on their product. The Ellington estate says that a negotiation was attempted but never completed and they want all profits earned on the $150-per-bottle liquor.

This case reminds me a little bit of the case of Electric Hendrix vodka, a vodka bearing the likeness of Jimi Hendrix. Earlier this year, a federal judge in Seattle ordered the makers of the vodka to pay $3.2 million in damages for trademark infringement. In that case the vodka was pulled from the shelves but in this case it seems like the cognac is already nearly impossible to find.

Poet Lloyd Goffe has filed one of the most outrageous lawsuits I've seen in a while. He's suing Oprah Winfrey for $1 trillion. He says that Oprah plagarized portions of his book "A Tome of Poetry" and repackaged a poem called "Pieces of My Soul" and published it under her name. The lawsuit alleges that Oprah confessed to doing this in April 2008. Goffe says that since Oprah sold more than 650 million copies of her work online at a $20 each she therefore owes $1.2 trillion. The Cleveland Leader has the rather ridiculous documents.

[Thanks, Ben!]

Guess Jeans co-founder and current California gubernatorial candidate Georges Marciano is going to have a big bill to pay. The LA Times reports that a jury has delivered a big award in the case of five former employees who sued Marciano for defamation. The drama began back in 2007 when Marciano sued the five employees saying that they were stealing his e-mails and other personal information and were part of a conspiracy to sell art and wine from his personal collection.

The employees countersued for harassment and defamation. And this is where it really gets weird. Marciano didn't cooperate with pretrial proceedings or defend himself at the trial. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Elizabeth White excluded him from court proceedings earlier this year because he had repeatedly failed to show up at depositions. In response Marciano has taken his battle against the judge to his campaign website and blog saying that the judged denied him his rights. He has also sued her in federal court. He will also likely appeal the case.