Michael Jackson sued by former lawyers

Jet, Sept 3, 2007 by Marti Parham

Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, may soon be heading to court again, this time for an unpaid debt.

Jackson's former entertainment lawyers recently filed a lawsuit claiming the singer owes them over $113,000.

The law firm Lavely & Singer of Los Angeles says Jackson agreed in arbitration last year to pay them $180,000 in three installments.

In a complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court the firm alleges Jackson, 48, failed to make the final payment of $113,750 before this year's July 31 deadline, which was stipulated in the settlement.

Last month a judge ordered Jackson to pay $256,000 in legal fees to another firm that handled some side issues during his 2005 molestation trial. He was acquitted of the charges (JET, June 27, 2005).

In other news, Nona Paris Lola Jackson, the woman who claims to be the real mother of Jackson's three children, was denied a role in the singer's custody settlement with ex-wife Deborah Rowe.

Nona Jackson asked a judge to grant her joint physical custody of Prince Michael, 10, and daughter Paris, 9. She also claims to be the mother of Prince Michael II, 5.

Superior Court Judge Robert A. Schnider said, "I feel her evidence fails to establish any genetic relationship between herself and the Jackson-Rowe children."

Jackson settled a custody fight with Rowe over his two eldest children in September. Details of the agreement have not been released. Jackson has not identified the mother of Prince Michael II.

-Marti Parham and AP reports