Default Judgment

Singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen may never see the $9.5 million a court ordered his former business manager to pay after she failed to respond to allegations of stealing from his retirement savings, Cohen's attorney said. An L.A. Superior Court judge granted the 71-year-old Cohen, known for reflective songs such as "Suzanne," a default judgment Monday. He claimed in a lawsuit that Kelley Lynch siphoned $5 million from his personal accounts and investments, leaving him about $150,000.

Southern California designer jeans maker True Religion Apparel Inc. has won a $864-million court judgment against online Chinese counterfeiters, but actually getting that money will be a battle. The Vernon company, whose jeans can go for nearly $500, sued 282 websites originating from China and accused them of lifting company trademarks and peddling fake goods. The websites had names such as TrueReligion4Cheap.com and ForTrueReligionJeans.com. The defendants were a no-show in court, so the New York federal judge handed down a default judgment this month.

Laguna Hills lawyer James D. Gunderson is not complying with a court order requiring him to produce documents and answer questions about cases in which he took gifts or bequests from his clients, according to documents filed in Orange County Superior Court. Attorneys for relatives of a 98-year-old Leisure World man who bequeathed $3.5 million to Gunderson last year filed a motion advising Judge James L.

Singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen may never see the $9.5 million a court ordered his former business manager to pay after she failed to respond to allegations of stealing from his retirement savings, Cohen's attorney said. An L.A. Superior Court judge granted the 71-year-old Cohen, known for reflective songs such as "Suzanne," a default judgment Monday. He claimed in a lawsuit that Kelley Lynch siphoned $5 million from his personal accounts and investments, leaving him about $150,000.

A businessman who was acquitted of rape charges in a criminal trial has been ordered to pay $5.3 million in civil damages to one of his alleged victims. The default judgment against John Gordon Jones came one year after the computer entrepreneur was found not guilty of raping nine women and released from jail, where he had spent two years without bail awaiting criminal trial. Jones said he will appeal the civil judgment. Last week, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David L.

Southern California designer jeans maker True Religion Apparel Inc. has won a $864-million court judgment against online Chinese counterfeiters, but actually getting that money will be a battle. The Vernon company, whose jeans can go for nearly $500, sued 282 websites originating from China and accused them of lifting company trademarks and peddling fake goods. The websites had names such as TrueReligion4Cheap.com and ForTrueReligionJeans.com. The defendants were a no-show in court, so the New York federal judge handed down a default judgment this month.

Bank of America officials were ordered by a federal judge in Los Angeles to explain on Jan. 16 why they should not be held in contempt for refusing to turn $456,413 in Soviet assets over to Palo Alto businessman Ralph Gregorian, who has won a default judgment against the Soviet government newspaper Izvestia for calling him a spy. That amount in Soviet funds on deposit at Bank of America's international trade division in New York was frozen last week, but Gregorian attorney Gerald Kroll told U.S.

A Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner upheld a $1.9-million default judgment Thursday against former civil rights attorney A. Thomas Hunt for failing to appear in court for his client. Hunt asked Commissioner Emilie H. Elias to dismiss the judgment won against him by Howard Bennett in 1995, saying that he was never properly served with the summons and complaint and that he only learned of the suit in early 1996.

Electropure Inc. said Monday it has tentatively settled a $3-million default judgment rendered in June 1996 against the company, its HOH International Inc. unit and certain current and former executives and directors. Electropure said that under the settlement it will issue 100,000 shares and 100,000 five-year warrants, exercisable at $1 a share, to the Economic Development Bank of Puerto Rico, the preferred shareholder in HOH International Inc.

Your Aug. 6 editorial, "Holden's Dubious Legacy," calls the actions taken to provide me with legal representation "stealth." The city was served with the suit July 17 and my office was served July 19. Thirteen days later the city attorney informed me his office had a conflict of interest and my case would be referred to an attorney from the conflict panel, who would contact me immediately. What I wasn't told was that a response was due by Aug. 6. When I mentioned the case to a friend who practices law, he told me that if there was no response by Aug. 6, the plaintiff's attorney could file a default judgment that would cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Your Aug. 6 editorial, "Holden's Dubious Legacy," calls the actions taken to provide me with legal representation "stealth." The city was served with the suit July 17 and my office was served July 19. Thirteen days later the city attorney informed me his office had a conflict of interest and my case would be referred to an attorney from the conflict panel, who would contact me immediately. What I wasn't told was that a response was due by Aug. 6. When I mentioned the case to a friend who practices law, he told me that if there was no response by Aug. 6, the plaintiff's attorney could file a default judgment that would cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars.

A businessman who was acquitted of rape charges in a criminal trial has been ordered to pay $5.3 million in civil damages to one of his alleged victims. The default judgment against John Gordon Jones came one year after the computer entrepreneur was found not guilty of raping nine women and released from jail, where he had spent two years without bail awaiting criminal trial. Jones said he will appeal the civil judgment. Last week, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David L.

With the three founders of Digital Entertainment Network and their assets at least temporarily out of reach, attorneys in some sex molestation lawsuits against the trio have turned their sights on related parties. One suit filed last year has been updated to include claims against three former directors of the defunct Santa Monica Internet company, alleging that they knew or should have known that DEN founder Marc Collins-Rector and other executives were taking advantage of teen employees.

Although they have little hope of getting any money, the parents of slain Oak View teen Kali Manley were awarded $1.01 million Monday in a wrongful-death lawsuit against convicted killer David Alvarez. The 24-year-old Ojai man, who pleaded guilty to murder earlier this year and is serving a prison sentence of 25 years to life, never responded to the lawsuit.

Federal marshals seized a grand piano and an aged Rolls-Royce Thursday from the home of entertainer Michael Jackson's parents to satisfy part of a $1.3-million default judgment in connection with the purchase of a guitar company. "This is a tempest is a teapot," said Brian Oxman, attorney for Joseph and Katherine Jackson. Oxman said the seizure was illegal because the couple had not been served with court papers before the default judgment was obtained.

A Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner upheld a $1.9-million default judgment Thursday against former civil rights attorney A. Thomas Hunt for failing to appear in court for his client. Hunt asked Commissioner Emilie H. Elias to dismiss the judgment won against him by Howard Bennett in 1995, saying that he was never properly served with the summons and complaint and that he only learned of the suit in early 1996.

Helionetics Inc., a maker of power and computer equipment, said Wednesday that it lost a court battle and has been ordered to pay a $1.7-million judgment to a businessman in Hawaii. Daniel Coplan, an attorney for Helionetics, said the company plans to appeal the judgment. Meanwhile, he said the company was in serious danger of collection efforts. The company said a judge in Santa Monica Superior Court last week ordered it to pay the $1.

A Los Angeles federal judge overturned a default judgment won by a Palo Alto businessman against the official Soviet newspaper Izvestia and released $456,000 in Soviet funds frozen to pay the award, it was reported Tuesday. U.S. District Judge David V. Kenyon's clerk confirmed that the judge had issued two orders in the Raphael Gregorian case, but she declined to discuss them. However, United Press International reported late in the day that it had confirmed the contents of the orders.

Electropure Inc. said Monday it has tentatively settled a $3-million default judgment rendered in June 1996 against the company, its HOH International Inc. unit and certain current and former executives and directors. Electropure said that under the settlement it will issue 100,000 shares and 100,000 five-year warrants, exercisable at $1 a share, to the Economic Development Bank of Puerto Rico, the preferred shareholder in HOH International Inc.

Laguna Hills lawyer James D. Gunderson is not complying with a court order requiring him to produce documents and answer questions about cases in which he took gifts or bequests from his clients, according to documents filed in Orange County Superior Court. Attorneys for relatives of a 98-year-old Leisure World man who bequeathed $3.5 million to Gunderson last year filed a motion advising Judge James L.