Author Archives: Kevin Maher

About Kevin Maher

Elvis’ Money Has Left the Building

All shook up

If Lisa Marie Presley gets what she wants, her former business manager will be dancing to the jailhouse rock. The daughter of music & American icon Elvis Presley is suing Barry Siegel for allegedly squandering away the Presley family’s hundred million dollar fortune. The lawsuit, filed in California, states that the Provident Financial Management and specifically Siegel “enriched himself with exorbitant fees”. The business manager then turned around and counter-sued for $800,000 and claims that Lisa Marie has extravagant taste and poor spending habits. Reports claim that the Presley fortune, once worth over $100m USD, is now down to around $15,000. A main recommendation from Siegel to Lisa Marie was an investment in the financial firm behind American Idol, an investment that eventually went bankrupt and turned about $25m in stock to about $500k almost overnight. Read More

Class Action: Square Comes Full Circle

A special delivery

A financial services & mobile payments company is now opening their own pockets after losing a class action lawsuit. Square, founded by Twitter CEO & Chairman Jack Dorsey, has agreed to pay $2.2m related to their food-delivery service. The class action lawsuit alleges that Square collected a small percentage of gratuity from online food orders, but withheld this money from the drivers & delivery services. Plaintiff Spencer Janssen is set to receive $10,000, while the firm who represents him is seeking $755,000 in fees. The rest of the money will be divided among the other class-action members, averaging about $15 per person. Caviar, the name of Square’s food delivery service, has been set to pay out any users between January 2012 and August 2015. Read More

Marvel-ous: Comic Legend Sues for $1 Billion

Caught in a web of lies

The 95-year-old creator of popular super hero franchises such as Spider-Man, X-Men, and The Avengers has filed a billion dollar lawsuit against a Chinese company. Stan Lee, the former editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics, is claiming that Pow Entertainment duped him into signing over his likeness, naming rights, and creative properties. The lawsuit was filed in a California court and named his former business partners, Gill Champion and Shane Duffy, as those responsible. When reached for comment, the defendant’s responded saying that the accusations were “preposterous”. Pow Entertainment was sold to a Hong Kong-based firm in 2017. This is the latest in a series of unfortunate events for Lee, who had his identity stolen late last year when a condo in Los Angeles was sold for almost $900k, with Lee claiming that almost $5m has gone missing from his bank account over the years. Read More

Supreme Court Takes Gamble on Sports

Place your bets

A cheer could be heard from residents across the tri-state area (New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut) when the decision came through. After 6 years of failure, the Supreme Court decided against a law preventing U.S. States from allowing its citizens to gamble on sports. New Jersey is at the top of the list and looks to use their newly found legislative freedom to pump life back into the struggling Atlantic City. While sports gambling is already legal in Nevada, this decision will allow each state to decide whether or not they accept bets on all major league sports, including the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL. The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, passed in 1992, allowed Nevada (and specifically Las Vegas) to become the mecca of sports gambling, and since then other states across the country have been left in the financial dust. Read More

False Advertising? Cry Me a River

Berry, berry interesting

As temperatures rise during spring and summer months, who doesn’t enjoy an ice cold beverage? Apparently, there are a group of people who would rather file a lawsuit claiming false advertising than sit back, relax, and pop open a tasty drink. The product is Bai, owned by the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, and the lawsuit claims that the fruity beverage actually contains a bid of “malic acid”, most likely used to give the drink a little bit more flavor. It has recently come out that even the drink’s sponsor has been named in the lawsuit; yes, American musician Justin Timberlake is the “Chief Flavor Officer” at Bai Brands. The lawsuit was filed by a single person in the state of California, but could become a class action lawsuit if more people enter the fray. Read More