BIO
PAMELA KOSLYN attended Barnard College, Columbia
University, in NYC, NY (B.A.), Reading University, Reading, England,
U.K., and University of Southern California (J.D.).
I am a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the State Bar
of California (State Bar Number 120605) (Intellectual Property section
member), and Film INDependent (previously known as Independent Feature
Project West). I have previously been a member of the Beverly
Hills Bar Association and CineWomen. Through
confidential opinions submitted by my peers in the bar and the
judiciary, I have earned a Martindale-Hubble rating for my professional
skills (International
Standard Lawyer Number 905768401).
I have been practicing law since 1985, and established my own firm in
1990.
I have been quoted on legal issues in national publications USA
Today and People, and have appeared on industry panels,
the KPFK radio show Samm Brown's For the Record, and
television shows Entertainment Tonight and the E! Entertainment
special, "Women on the 'Net."
One of the first cases I litigated involved the novel claim that
religious scripture could be protected as trade secrets (RTC v.
Wollersheim). Wollersheim pitted the scripture's owners
against, among others, newspaper reporters using the "reporter's
privilege" to avoid disclosing their sources.
My most noteworthy trial result was winning a $14.3 million jury
verdict against Marion "Suge" Knight and
Death Row Records on behalf of a music
producer and a music publisher who owned the rights to the rap artist
Kurupt. When the appeal and cross-appeal in the case were heard, the
trial
court's ruling in favor of my clients was affirmed.
The appellate decision in
Brumfield v. Brown, et al, Case No. B149561 is here.
Click here to read the story:
See my press page to
read the story, or see below for a more
detailed account.
DEATH ROW AND SUGE KNIGHT SLAPPED WITH $4.3 MILLION FRAUD VERDICT
In yet another blow, the once-untouchable gangsta-rap label is forced
to pay a former star's managers for jacking their talent. You call this
a comeback?
by Bruce Haring
Wednesday, December 06, 2000 04:23 p.m.
A Los Angeles jury yesterday granted a $4.3 million
verdict against Death Row Records and its co-founder, Marion ''Suge''
Knight, a move that raises new questions about the future of one of the
most notorious companies in music industry history.
The jury found that brothers Lamont and Ken Brumfield, the former
managers, producers and publishers for recording artist Ricardo E.
Brown Jr., a k a Kurupt, were defrauded and had their contractual and
other economic relationships interfered with by Death Row and Knight.
The $4,344,000 in damages breaks down to roughly $3,279,000 against
Death Row and $1,065,000 million against Knight, who is currently
serving out a nine-year prison sentence for violating parole on a 1992
assault on two aspiring rappers in a Hollywood recording studio. Knight
violated that parole in a 1996 assault at a Las Vegas casino.
Despite Knight's recantation of the violent life in multiple parole
hearings, Death Row's aura of menace has barely faded. At the Kurupt
civil trial, Knight testified via videotaped deposition because
California Superior Court Judge Emilie H. Elias feared for the safety
and security of the jury if Knight was present in the courtroom.
Nevertheless, Knight was a constant presence on the phone, even
speaking on a cell connection to former Death Row recording star Dr.
Dre in the courthouse hallway. On the stand, Dre -- whom Knight has, in
published reports, called ''a faggot'' -- said they talked about his
new record.
The trial was marked by testimony from a who's who of 1990s gangsta
rap. Among the original defendants was Suge's ex-wife Sharitha Knight,
who, like Dr. Dre, was dismissed from the case before it went to the
jury. Similarly, former Death Row protégé Snoop Dogg,
charged with influencing Kurupt to break his deal with the Brumfields,
was released from the case in an earlier procedure. Interscope Records,
originally a defendant in the suit thanks to its distribution
association with Death Row, settled with the plaintiffs for an
undisclosed amount before the jury verdict.
David Kenner, the lead counsel for Death Row and Knight, did not return
calls seeking comment.
While the case can still potentially be settled out of court, the
verdict is yet another obstacle for Death Row, which has struggled to
rebuild itself after years of chaos that saw Knight's conviction, the
death of Tupac Shakur and the defections of marquee acts Snoop Dogg and
Dre.
Kurupt was originally signed by Lamont Brumfield's Rapp Central
Productions and Ken Brumfield's Hoodsta-4-Life Publishing, with Ken
(who is now serving a 20-year prison term for cocaine trafficking) also
serving as Kurupt's manager.
Court testimony in the civil suit against Death Row et al. contended
that Kurupt made his Death Row bones after being invited to a 1993
party held at Dr. Dre's Calabasas, Calif., estate. Dre remembered
Kurupt from an earlier tape, and challenged him to a contest: if Kurupt
could hold his own in a rap battle against various guests -- including
Snoop and other MCs from Death Row's stable -- he'd get a deal with
Death Row. If not, he would wind up in Dre's pool. Kurupt impressed,
stayed dry and won his Death Row deal.
But Kurupt did not immediately share his good fortune with the
Brumfields. The brothers claimed that despite promises to the contrary,
compensation for Kurupt's services and their own deal with Death Row
never materialized, even as the rapper began appearing on Death Row
recordings that helped make the company the Microsoft of the
gangsta-rap industry.
Los Angeles attorney John Smith, representing the Brumfields, attempted
to work out an agreement, sometimes submitting to bizarre meetings.
According to his court testimony, Smith once attended a meeting with
Knight at which the 6'3'', 330-pound exec -- apparently borrowing
intimidation tactics from Jabba the Hutt -- devoured an entire bucket
of fried chicken while negotiating, languidly stripping meat off the
bones and never once offering any to the attorney.
On other occasions, both Smith and the Brumfields attempted to meet
with Knight, but were kept away by bus-sized bodyguards, who phalanxed
Knight both in the studio and in his offices.
As negotiations dragged fruitlessly on for the Brumfields, Kurupt
apparently came under the sway of the Death Row scene. Despite his
existing contracts with the Brumfields, Kurupt eventually signed a
recording contract with Death Row, a publishing contract with Suge
Music and a management agreement with Sharitha Knight, who ran
Knightlife Management.
Gradually, things went awry. Death Row entered a period marked by
Knight's legal problems and Shakur's death; Kurupt declared bankruptcy
in 1996, voiding all his recording and management contracts, including
those held by the Brumfields.
However, by that time he had appeared on 17 albums and one single for
Death Row, racking up a discography that included featured artist
credits on million-selling rap classics like Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle
and Dr. Dre's epochal The Chronic. The Brumfields have, to date,
received no money in compensation.
Pamela Koslyn, the co-lead counsel for the Brumfields, said there was a
''high likelihood'' of a settlement of the civil matter. One scenario
being floated has a revived Death Row possibly releasing a Kurupt album
of unreleased material and channeling most of the proceeds to the
Brumfields. (Kurupt's most recent album, Tha Streetz Iz A Mutha, was
released last year by Antra/Artemis.)
If no settlement is reached, however, Death Row may be faced with some
hard financial choices, ones that potentially could undermine any
attempts at jump-starting the company.
Knight, who may be freed from his stint at San Luis Obispo men's colony
as early as next year, has expressed hopes in interviews of
resurrecting his dominance in the rap scene. In an over-the-top TV spot
which aired during this year's Source Hip-Hop Music Awards telecast (an
event marred by the kind of thuggery which was once allegedly standard
operating procedure for Death Row), Knight was depicted burning new
Death Row CDs on the proverbial down-low in his prison cell. Ostensibly
an advertisement for the Death Row compilation, Too Gangsta For Radio,
the spot played more like an attempt by Knight to assert his (and Death
Row's) continued primacy in the hip-hop world. But to convert that hype
into fact, Knight and Death Row have some huge obstacles to overcome.
Death Row representatives have privately said that the company
currently has no assets and is insolvent. Facing a jury verdict for
damages, Death Row and Knight could be forced to publicly open their
books and reveal their financial state. If it turns out that Death Row
does, in fact, have assets, other artists, producers and managers, many
of them potentially in the same financial position as the Brumfields,
may come forward to collect.
But if Death Row's financial picture does not include a source of
revenue, then the firm could be forced to declare bankruptcy and
potentially lose the rights to its interests in its recording masters
and publishing assets, which were licensed to Interscope and
Warner/Chappell Music, respectively.
Much of Death Row's recent output has consisted of compilations based
on studio outtakes accumulated during the mid-'90s, when gangsta was in
flower. The label's most recent offering, Dead Man Walking, billed as a
new Snoop Dogg album, is actually a collection of leftover Snoop studio
work from the Death Row days. Snoop, who left Death Row for the
comparative comfort of Master P's No Limit Records back in 1998,
reportedly objected to the release of the album, and sought to keep it
from succeeding by threatening to deny interviews and personal
appearances to radio stations if they added singles from the record.
Whether Snoop had anything to do with it or not, the album has
faltered, selling a disappointing 117,000 copies since its release on
Oct. 31. To date, the Too Gangsta compilation, which features two
unreleased Tupac Shakur songs alongside new tracks (read: current Death
Row rappers spraying invective at the label's enemies, including Dr.
Dre and protégé Eminem), has sold only 46,000 copies.
For now, insolvent or not, Death Row remains a wild card. In a move
that may demonstrate the company's continuing commitment to legally
questionable hell-raising, the label recently launched a a rather odd
promotion for Dead Man Walking, posting the album in streaming-audio
format on its Web site alongside bootleg MP3s of Snoop's upcoming No
Limit album Tha Last Meal, inviting visitors to compare and contrast
the two records. The message of the stunt: Even if Death Row walks the
last mile, it'll kick up some dust along the way.•
(published by Inside.com)
