Top Defense Results: Jackson et. al. v. AEG Live LLC

Attorney Marvin S. Putnam faced a stubborn foe and a daunting task in defending concert promoter AEG Live LLC against a wrongful death claim by the family of pop superstar Michael Jackson.

As the proceedings got underway, Putnam and his team at O'Melveny & Myers LLP had to contend with draft contracts and emails between top executives that challenged his claims that the entertainment company did not hire the singer's doctor and that they were unaware of Jackson's apparently failing health.

That evidence added challenges to a trial that stretched five months and included 60 witnesses and 800 exhibits by its end.

Putnam's opponent, Brian J. Panish, of Panish, Shea & Boyle LLP, was a tough adversary with a near-undefeated record and a knack for interspersing humor with emotional videos of the entertainer.

But Putnam refused to fold. At no time before or after Panish asked the jury for $1.5 billion - what would have been the largest personal injury award ever - did he offer to settle.

"The defense team did an excellent job on behalf of their client," Panish said.

As the trial wore on, under the glare of unrelenting media coverage, Putnam focused the jury's attention on Jackson's responsibility for his own choices.

The singer was a broke, prescription-drug addict who, despite legendary fame, had a badly tarnished image, Putnam told jurors. Desperate to reclaim his throne as "King of Pop" and replenish his fortunes, Jackson made the deadly choices of stubbornly demanding Propofol and bringing a doctor who would administer it.

The pop star made those choices behind locked doors and kept them secret, Putnam argued. There was no way AEG Live executives could have known what Jackson did inside the gates of his rented mansion.

Jackson, Putnam said, "led an exceptional, complicated life, and there is no question his death was a tragedy. Our only aim was to show the jury why this tragedy was not AEG Live's doing."

Putnam called to the stand several doctors who had treated Jackson in the past. He strove to establish that Dr. Conray Murray, the physician convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's death, was Jackson's personal physician.

"It was ultimately his doctor, his choice and he certainly was not going to take 'no' for an answer," Putnam said during closing arguments. "He didn't ask. He told [AEG Live], 'I'm bringing this doctor.'"

Putnam said the defense team was "painstaking about showing the jury the full picture, unlike plaintiffs who had to take matters out of context or strain for absurd interpretations in order support their baseless claims."

"When plaintiffs only told them about one sentence in an email, we gave them the full email chain; when the jury had only seen one short video clip taken out of context, we showed them the whole video," he added.

Putnam and his team succeeded on some key motions during the proceedings, such as getting two AEG executives dropped from the case.

After 13 hours of deliberation, jurors determined in October that AEG Live had in fact hired Murray, an allegation Putnam fought from the outset to deny. But that was not enough to establish liability, and jurors decided 10-2 that the concert promoter did not negligently hire the doctor. With that, they absolved AEG Live of any liability and Putnam's clients were not required to pay anything.

Jackson's attorneys did not prevail on an attempt to win a new trial. They have filed an appeal to overturn that motion, as well as the verdict. Jackson et al. v. AEG Live LLC, BC445597 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Sept. 15, 2010).

- CHASE SCHEINBAUM

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