Phil Spector Sues Attorney|Robert Shapiro For $1 Million

LOS ANGELES (CN) - Phil Spector claims his attorney, Robert Shapiro, took unfair advantage of him when Spector was arrested on suspicion of murder. Spector claims Shapiro unfairly took a $1 million advance merely to be "on standby," not as a "true retainer," and that "Shapiro took unfair and unscrupulous advantage of his friendship and position of trust with Mr. Spector, and decided to use Mr. Spector's arrest as an opportunity to make a financial windfall and garner publicity for himself."

Spector claims that the defendants, including Shapiro's law firm, Christensen, Glaser, Fink, Jacobs, Weil and Shapiro, "did not intend to and would not reserve any of Shapiro's time for Mr. Spector's representation, that they intended to keep all of the advance payment no matter how little work they did for him, that they intended to keep it even if they did not live up (to) their end of the bargain and that Shapiro in fact had acted as lead counsel in few if any criminal trials that went to verdict. At no time did they disclose or explain to him what they meant by their reference to a 'true retainer.'"

He demands his $1 million back, rescission, and damages for breach of contract and unjust enrichment. He is represented in Superior Court by Michael Dempsey with Dempsey & Johnson.

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