Zia F. Modabber

Nearly a decade after the pop icon’s death, handling litigation for the estate of Michael Jackson is still a significant operation. Modabber was hired by Jackson to serve as his trial lawyer in 1995, a position he said he was officially offered after a long, lighthearted exchange with the performer. He retained the position for the estate following Jackson’s 2009 death.

The public’s eye may have veered from Jackson, but the cash flow triggered by successful projects such as the 2009 documentary “This Is It” ensures that litigation can never be far from the estate’s mind.

Jackson’s producer, Quincy Jones, filed a lawsuit that went to trial in July over royalties allegedly owed to him for the estate’s use of his master tracks. Arguing that his contracts with Jackson promised him right of first refusal to remix certain Jackson tracks, Jones said the estate owed him $30 million. Modabber, as lead counsel, was pitted up against distinguished litigator Michael McKool and Scott Cole of McKool Smith LLP. Both sides presented fast-paced, tightly packed and well-crafted arguments, likely prompting jury deliberations that lasted longer than some had expected.

Modabber argued that there was no breach of contract as Jones had implied.

“He sued us for breach of contract, and then testified that he didn’t care what the contract said,” Modabber said. Though Modabber acknowledged that the estate owed Jones some money in royalties, it was in the hundreds of thousands, not $30 million. In the end, the jury seemed to split the bill between the two sides, granting $9.4 million to Jones.

Modabber declined to comment further on the case. But in August, he filed a post-trial asking the court to enter judgment establishing that there was no contract breach notwithstanding the verdict.

When he’s not handling estate business or working with clients such as Trent Reznor or Stevie Wonder, Modabber has his hands full as managing partner Katten Muchin’s Los Angeles office. About a year and a half after moving into the role, Modabber said he feels he’s settling in.

“I’ve gotten more comfortable with not feeling like I have to do things the way my predecessors did them. They had strengths I don’t have, and hopefully vice versa. But I’ve found the job’s a lot about being there to represent our office and our firm, which I’m proud to do,” Modabber said.

— Steven Crighton