Legal Fees

WASHINGTON - Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana said they improved his strength and posture. Celebrity Kim Kardashian boasted they allowed her to ditch her personal trainer. But federal and state officials said the rocker-bottom Shape-ups and other toning shoes made by Skechers USA Inc. don't live up to the hype from the company and its high-profile endorsers. On Wednesday, the Manhattan Beach company agreed to pay $50 million to settle false-advertising allegations by the Federal Trade Commission and the attorneys general of 44 states, including California, as well as the District of Columbia.

The Dodgers should not be allowed to emerge from bankruptcy until they settle $8.3 million in bills from Major League Baseball, attorneys for the league argued in a court filing Tuesday. The issue is not likely to delay the sale of the Dodgers, which the U.S. Bankruptcy Court is expected to approve April 13. Frank McCourt agreed last week to sell the team to Guggenheim Partners, a group fronted by Magic Johnson and incoming team President Stan Kasten, for a record $2.15 billion.

The Menendez family estate, once valued at up to $14 million, is virtually depleted, it was disclosed Tuesday at Lyle and Erik Menendez's murder trial. Shrunken by taxes, legal fees and other costs, Jose and Kitty Menendez's estate is worth no more than $800,000--and has debts at least that high, defense lawyer Leslie Abramson said in court. Probate records are sealed and the defense had kept financial figures secret throughout the trial.

The Dodgers should not be allowed to emerge from bankruptcy until they settle $8.3 million in bills from Major League Baseball, attorneys for the league argued in a court filing Tuesday. The issue is not likely to delay the sale of the Dodgers, which the U.S. Bankruptcy Court is expected to approve  April 13. Frank McCourt agreed last week to sell the team to Guggenheim Baseball Partners, a group fronted by Magic Johnson and incoming team President Stan Kasten, for $2.15 billion, a world record for a sports franchise.

Facebook Inc. was awarded $75,776 in legal fees from a New York man who claims he's entitled to half of Mark Zuckerberg's multibillion-dollar stake in the social network. In a decision Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie G. Foschio in Buffalo, N.Y., ordered Paul Ceglia to pay the fees after ruling that he violated a pretrial discovery order and failed to turn over email account information. The fee comes on top of an earlier $5,000 fine by the judge. Last month, Foschio said Ceglia must reimburse Facebook for legal fees it incurred in trying to get him to comply with a court order in the partnership dispute.

Bell does not have to pick up Mayor Oscar Hernandez's legal expenses in defending himself against accusations that he misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars from the city treasury, a Superior Court judge ruled Monday. Hernandez, who also is facing criminal corruption charges along with seven other current or former leaders in the small city, was seeking to have the city pick up his legal fees in a sweeping lawsuit filed by then-Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown. The state's lawsuit seeks to recover tax dollars that Brown claims were improperly taken from the city by Hernandez and others.

Please God, if I'm ever charged with murder, let me win the lottery first. ALBERT A. TRUNK Compton

Vernon has long spared no expense when it comes to hiring attorneys. But this year, as officials fought back an effort to disband their municipal government, the scandal-tainted city turned to lawyers like never before. The blue-chip law firm that helped coordinate Vernon's political battle, Latham & Watkins LLP, was paid nearly $7 million this year, according to records reviewed by The Times. Over $2 million more went to other lawyers and lobbyists working to defend the city.

Former Bell Police Chief Randy G. Adams is requesting that a judge order Bell to pay legal expenses he incurred while defending himself in a civil lawsuit and corruption investigations. Attorneys for the former chief filed a complaint against the city earlier this week in Los Angeles County Superior Court after Bell repeatedly refused to pay his expenses. "The city would not talk to us, so we're forced to take this action," said Adams' attorney, Thomas P. O'Brien. He said Adams is trying to recoup hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal expenses.

A federal judge ordered Microsoft Corp. to pay Danbury, Conn.-based software company Bristol Technology $3.7 million in legal fees in addition to $1 million awarded for unfair trade practices. Bristol, which last year lost all but one count of its antitrust suit against Microsoft, had asked for nearly $6 million to pay its legal bills. The ruling entitles the company to ask for a new trial on the other antitrust counts.

The water bill at Maria Arizmendi's home in Bell has gotten so expensive that she's cut back on gardening and started using paper plates. Often, when it's time to shower, she heads over to the home of a friend, who is served by a different utility. Arizmendi, 70, said she pays about $50 a month for water, but her friend pays roughly $20 every two months. "There must be something that's not working right," said Arizmendi, a retired L.A. County employee who lives alone. "It just doesn't make sense what they put in these bills, and when you call, you can't get them to pick up, or you can't get an answer.

Facebook Inc. was awarded $75,776 in legal fees from a New York man who claims he's entitled to half of Mark Zuckerberg's multibillion-dollar stake in the social network. In a decision Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie G. Foschio in Buffalo, N.Y., ordered Paul Ceglia to pay the fees after ruling that he violated a pretrial discovery order and failed to turn over email account information. The fee comes on top of an earlier $5,000 fine by the judge. Last month, Foschio said Ceglia must reimburse Facebook for legal fees it incurred in trying to get him to comply with a court order in the partnership dispute.

More than 200 nonprofit groups, from animals rights organizations to political activists, said most of their donated funds appear to have vanished after the organization that watched over the money suddenly ceased operations last month. The International Humanities Center closed its offices, took down its Web page and informed its clients by email that it has ceased operation. The center served as an umbrella organization for small nonprofit groups, handling their donations and performing administrative duties.

Vernon has long spared no expense when it comes to hiring attorneys. But this year, as officials fought back an effort to disband their municipal government, the scandal-tainted city turned to lawyers like never before. The blue-chip law firm that helped coordinate Vernon's political battle, Latham & Watkins LLP, was paid nearly $7 million this year, according to records reviewed by The Times. Over $2 million more went to other lawyers and lobbyists working to defend the city.

Former Bell Police Chief Randy G. Adams is requesting that a judge order Bell to pay legal expenses he incurred while defending himself in a civil lawsuit and corruption investigations. Attorneys for the former chief filed a complaint against the city earlier this week in Los Angeles County Superior Court after Bell repeatedly refused to pay his expenses. "The city would not talk to us, so we're forced to take this action," said Adams' attorney, Thomas P. O'Brien. He said Adams is trying to recoup hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal expenses.

A three-year-old lawsuit between Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich and City Controller Wendy Greuel ended with a fizzle this week, with an appeals court declining to say whether elected officials can be audited at City Hall. The lawsuit, inherited by Greuel and Trutanich when they took office in 2009, originated with a dispute between City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo and City Controller Laura Chick. Delgadillo sued Chick in 2008, saying that she overstepped her authority when she attempted to audit his office's handling of workers' compensation programs.

The Inglewood City Council has hired an outside attorney to challenge nearly $250,000 in fees being sought by the lawyers who represented Councilman Garland Hardeman in his two-year legal battle that overturned the 1987 council election. The city will argue at a Dec. 15 hearing before Superior Court Judge Leon Savitch that Hardeman's 1987 lawsuit against Ervin (Tony) Thomas and the city was for private, not public, benefit. Even if it did benefit the public, City Atty.

Looking to build some good will with British lawmakers, News Corp. said it would no longer pay legal bills for Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator convicted in 2007 of hacking into phones for the media giant's now closed News of the World tabloid. In a statement, News Corp.'s Management and Standards Committee, the media company's in-house watchdog, said it had decided to "terminate any arrangement to pay the legal fees of Glenn Mulcaire with immediate effect. " That News Corp.

A judge has ordered the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to pay legal fees to The Times in litigation over the release of identities of officers involved in shootings, finding that the issue was a matter of public interest. Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant ordered the department to pay nearly $173,000 in attorney's fees incurred over a year and a half of litigation in a California Public Records Act lawsuit filed by The Times in 2009. The newspaper had sued after the department denied a request for the names of deputies involved in three fatal shootings.

Faced with nearly $42,000 in fines in a scandal over free tickets, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has turned to his friends from Sacramento for help in paying his legal bills. According to fundraising reports submitted this week, Villaraigosa raised $123,500 for his three legal defense funds, money he then used to cover the cost of his fines and outstanding attorney's fees. One fund is devoted to the city Ethics Commission's ticket probe, a second deals with a Los Angeles County district attorney's inquiry, and a third addresses the bills racked up from an investigation by the state Fair Political Practices Commission.