Mark John Geragos (born October 5, 1957) is an American criminal defense lawyer. The clients he represented were Michael Jackson, actress Winona Ryder, politician Gary Condit, Susan McDougal, Scott Peterson, and Scott Barney. Geragos represents a suspended NASCAR driver, Jeremy Mayfield; Paul and Kulbir Dhaliwal, two brothers who were wounded after a tiger escaped at the San Francisco Zoo; and musician Chris Brown, who pleaded guilty to the attack of his girlfriend, Rihanna. In addition, he helped David Carradine's family after a deliberate auto-erotic death. He is considered a "celebrity attorney".
Video Mark Geragos
​​â € <â €
Geragos was born in Los Angeles, California. He attended high school at Flintridge Preparatory School in La CaÃÆ'Â ± there, California, and graduated with honors. He received his bachelor's degree from Haverford College in 1979, two majors in anthropology and sociology, and Juris Doctor (JD) from Loyola Law School in 1982. He was accepted at the State Bar of California in 1983. Currently, Geragos is a partner manager at The Law Offices of Geragos and Geragos, a 13-person law firm in Los Angeles. Geragos handles criminal defense and civil litigation.
An Armenian-American, Geragos maintains his close relationship with the Armenian community. He has received praise from the Armenian National Committee of America. He serves on Armenia's Committee on the Rights of Life, as chairman of the Founder of the Donors Bone Marx of Armenia, and is also involved with the Armenian religious community. He has been a member of the International Board of Trustees of the Armenian Fund since 2006. Geragos is one of the leading attorneys in a federal class action law suit suing New York Life Insurance and AXA for an insurance policy issued in the early 20th century during the time of the Armenian Genocide over 1.5 million Armenians. Both cases ended up with more than $ 37.5 million in 2004 and 2005. In 2009, the settlement was canceled by the US Federal Court, which ruled that "No Armenian American can sue foreign insurance companies for unpaid claims because "Geragos represents actor Keith Carradine, actress Hayley DuMond, lawyer Stephen Kolodny, designer Donna Dubrow and Lee DuMond in a class action lawsuit after private spy Anthony Pellicano has conspiracy illegal intercepts and subsequent beliefs.
Maps Mark Geragos
The famous client
Susan McDougal
Geragos first became a national concern when he began to represent the punished Whitewater character, Susan McDougal, former business partner of former President Bill Clinton. Geragos completed McDougal's representation by securing a presidential pardon for McDougal on January 20, 2001. Geragos also represented McDougal in a 12-count embezzlement trial in Los Angeles where the jury returned an innocent verdict.
Winona Ryder
In December 2002, Geragos defended the Academy Award-winning actress Winona Ryder for allegedly stealing items worth more than $ 5,500 from a Beverly Hills, California store in 2001. She was sentenced to three years probation and ordered to undergo psychological counseling and drugs.
Michael Jackson and Scott Peterson Cases
In the early stages of Michael Jackson's kidnapping case, Geragos handled the case and also the case of the death penalty of Scott Peterson simultaneously. Although he managed a busy workload since he started working as a lawyer, during this time, he handled two of the most famous cases in the United States. Geragos "... a very busy calendar" in the courtroom earned him a reprimand by a judge in a case of embezzlement that Geragos was also undertaking. In the end, Geragos failed in both cases, when he was dropped by Michael Jackson and Scott Peterson was found guilty and sentenced to death. On April 26, 2004, Michael Jackson removed Mark Geragos as his lawyer, replacing him with Thomas Mesereau. In a public statement given by his spokesman Raymone Bain, Jackson stated, "It is important that I have the full attention of those representing me, my life is at stake..." indicating that Geragos may not have enough time to handle his case because of Geragos's workload. Geragos, for his part, later said he was disappointed to see Jackson climbing over a sports vehicle to cheer his fans after leaving Santa Barbara County Courthouse, California in January 2004 when he was first indicted for initial complaints. Geragos spokesman Benjamin Brafman also expressed disagreement over Jackson's actions. "Although [in January] the lawyers describe the behavior as 'Michael being Michael,'" "The New York Times reported," they are said to personally express disappointment at the look of carelessness in the face of serious allegations. "
Greg Anderson
In 2006, Geragos returned to headlines for representing Greg Anderson, Barry Bonds personal coach. On July 5, 2006, Anderson was found in the humiliation of the court by US District Judge William Alsup, who imprisoned Anderson for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury investigating allegations of perjury over the Bonds. Geragos announced he would file an appeal based on his statement that the summon to testify violated Anderson's bargaining agreement in July 2005 in the case of the Bay Area Cooperative Laboratory. Anderson will be held until he agrees to testify or the grand jury term ends. Geragos says his client will not testify. The grand jury ended on July 20, 2006, and Anderson was released from prison two weeks later. On August 28, 2006, Anderson was rediscovered as a humiliation of the court for refusing to give testimony before a jury who had just been convicted and sentenced to prison. Anderson was released on October 5, 2006 after an order from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found that a court judge had committed a legal error. Anderson was sent back to prison on November 16, 2006.
More
In another case, Geragos won the dismissal of all alcohol-related calculations against former Clinton President Brother Roger Clinton Jr. In early 2006, Geragos won the dismissal of the alleged prostitution against film director Lee Tamahori.
Geragos is a lawyer for Cameron Brown, who is accused of killing his four-year-old daughter by throwing him off a cliff of Rancho Palos Verdes. The twelve-week trial ended in August 2006 without a verdict. The jury negotiated for more than nine days but with no hope of deadlock and the cancellation of the trial was declared by Judge Mark Arnold of the Torrance High Court. The case was tried again in the fall of 2009 by a colleague at Geragos company. The second trial also ended with a jury hanged. The third court saw him punished.
In December 2007, Amphit Dhaliwal and Kulbir Dhaliwal, two survivors of a tiger attack at the San Francisco Zoo, hired Geragos to represent them against potential criminal allegations and in anticipation of filing a lawsuit against the zoo. Despite pressure from city officials, the local police inspector explained that there was no reason to file a criminal suit against Dhaliwal's brothers in connection with the tiger's attack. Geragos filed a federal suit against the San Francisco Zoo and City for violating the civil rights of the Dhaliwis, including the Dhaliwai people who had to search and seize for no possible cause, and for intentional emotional distress. Geragos settles a civil suit in the early stages of a $ 900,000 trial process.
In 2008, he joined the defense of Japanese businessman Kazuyoshi Miura, but Miura committed suicide before his trial.
On February 8, 2009 he brought Chris Brown to surrender to the LAPD. Then Brown was arrested, and the date of his trial was set on March 5, 2009. Geragos and Brown attended the trial date, but did not ask for and demand the indictment until the date of the next trial, April 6, 2009. On June 22, 2009, Brown pleaded guilty to one count of a crime and was sentenced to a 5-year trial and 6 months of community service.
He also represents Kesha in his lawsuit against Dr. Luke.
Legal comments
Gaggas sometimes appears as a guest and legal commentator on the Today event, Good Morning America , 60 Minutes , Anderson Cooper 360Ã, Â ° , On Record with Greta Van Susteren , and has appeared several times in Larry King Live , including his 20th anniversary.
In addition to his role on CNN through Anderson Cooper 360 Â °, Mark Geragos and Sunny Hostin held a law program entitled "Making the Case". "Making the Case" airs Monday night on CNN at 10:30 pm.
Media appearance
Geragos has made several appearances on the Adam Carolla Show since 2013, usually commenting on whatever top legal issues in pop culture. He hosted for Carolla in April 2014 while Carolla was filming his independent movie Road Hard. Geragos filled for Dr. Drew Pinsky and co-hosted with Carolla in March 2015 at "The Adam and Dr Drew Show," another podcast airing on Carolla Digital Carolla.
In June 2015, it was announced that Geragos will be hosting the podcast with Carolla who will be part of Carolla Digital. The event is called "Fair Doubtful" and features Carolla and Geragos discuss issues in society including law, from the point of view of Geragos as a civil and criminal defense lawyer. The show debuts on July 25, 2015, and new episodes debut every Saturday.
Awards
- 1999 - Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Los Angeles Criminal Courts Bar Association.
- 1999 - Jerry Giesler Award Prize for Skills, Judgment & amp; Dedication.
- 2001 - Humanitarian of the Year by the Mexican American Merchants Association.
- 2004 - Professional of The Year by Armenian Professional Society.
- 2005 - Consumer Lawyers of the Year by California Consumer Lawyers.
- 2006 - Attorney of the Year by California Lawyers magazine.
See also
- Armenian American History in Los Angeles
References
External links
- Geragos & amp; The company website of the company
- Mark Profile Geragos on CEB blog
- Mark Profile tagged in Avvo
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments