Mark Geragos, the Los Angeles-based lawyer to the stars who made a name for himself representing deeply beloved and maligned celebrities and public figures like Michael Jackson, Sean Combs and Erik and Lyle Menendez, must pay $100,000 to a youth basketball coach for his role in the 2018 Nike extortion scheme, a jury has decided.
Gary Franklin had alleged that Geragos and now-disbarred attorney Michael Avenatti derailed a $1.5 million settlement by leveraging confidential information from his lawsuit about alleged misconduct in youth basketball to demand a separate $10 million payout from Nike to conduct an internal investigation of the company, which later contacted law enforcement. The saga ended with a 2 1/2-year prison sentence for Avenatti, with federal prosecutors at one point identifying Geragos as an unindicted coconspirator.
In a countersuit, Geragos, who denied any wrongdoing, claimed that the settlement was bungled because of negligence by Franklin’s representatives.
In Thursday’s verdict, the…
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