All posts containing the tag: "MarkHeller"
Posted Oct 21st 2009 12:51PM by TMZ Staff
Jon Gosselin may be on the hunt for a new lawyer soon, because we've learned the person who sponsored New York attorney Mark Heller to appear on Gosselin's behalf in Pennsylvania has formally made a motion with the court to withdraw his support.
Attorney Mike Marino filed his motion today, saying he wants to wash his hands of the whole case. Marino told us he had never had contact with Heller until Mr. Heller found him in a legal directory, cold called him and asked Marino to sponsor him for a one-time-only case -- Jon vs. Kate.
Marino says he had never heard of "Jon & Kate Plus 8" when he agreed to sponsor Heller. As Marino put it, "I don't watch that kind of junk on TV."
The judge will schedule a hearing on Marino's motion. We also learned Marino sent the judge a letter last week requesting out of the whole case.
If Heller doesn't find a new sponsor, he can't practice in PA.
Stay tuned ...
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Jon & Kate, Exclusives
Tags: court, jon gosselin, jon kate plus 8, JonGosselin, JonKatePlus8, kate gosselin, KateGosselin, lawyer, lawyers, mark heller, MarkHeller, mike marino, MikeMarino
Posted Oct 12th 2009 9:34AM by TMZ Staff
Under the category, "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished" ... the lawyer who stepped in to vouch for Jon Gosselin's attorney has some deep regrets today, over a case he says is "so insignificant to me."
As we first reported, attorney Michael Marino was contacted by Jon's lawyer, Mark Heller, asking for help to get admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar on a one-time-only basis. Marino tells TMZ he had never met or spoken with Heller before and thinks Heller randomly pulled his name out of a legal directory.
Marino says he agreed to do a solid for Heller and sponsor him so Heller could get permission from the judge to rep Jon.
Marino says at the time, he had no idea who Jon and Kate Gosselin were -- "The names didn't mean anything to me," Marino said, adding, "I thought it was some simple divorce case where some lawyer wanted to be introduced to the court."
Marino, who is semi-retired, says "I don't watch that kind of junk on TV. It was so insignificant to me." Marino told us when he realized the divorce was a contested mess, he wanted out, and it had nothing to do with the fact that Heller had been suspended by the New York State Bar for a variety of misdeeds.
Heller withdrew his sponsorship this past Thursday. The ball's in your court, Mark.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, TV, Dirty Divorces, Jon & Kate, Exclusives
Tags: jon and kate plus 8, jon gosselin, JonAndKatePlus8, JonGosselin, kate gosselin, KateGosselin, lawyers, mark heller, MarkHeller, mike marino, MikeMarino, new york state bar, NewYorkStateBar, pennsylvania state bar, PennsylvaniaStateBar, regret, so insignificant, SoInsignificant
Posted Oct 5th 2009 12:55PM by TMZ Staff
Kate Gosselin has filed legal papers in a Pennsylvania court this morning to force her estranged hubby Jon Gosselin to return the $230,000 he took out of their joint bank account ... and to have him cited for contempt for good measure.
Kate claims Jon raided their joint account, leaving her with only $1,000.
Kate's lawyer, Mark Momjian, tells TMZ he filed the papers this morning and noted to the judge that Jon allegedly violated an order prohibiting him from taking anything out of the account without Kate's sign-off.
Momjian claims Jon and his lawyer, Mark Heller, have harassed Kate with frivolous legal maneuvers and wants the judge to nail her estranged hubby with financial sanctions.
And there's this ... Heller, who is not a member of the Pennsylvania bar, is asking the judge for special permission to rep Jon in this case. Momjian says he filed papers opposing that move, on grounds Heller effectively lied to the court by failing to mention -- as he's required to do -- that he was suspended by the New York bar for a variety of misdeeds. Oops.
The judge has been asked to make a ruling, stat.
Filed under: TV, Jon & Kate
Tags: account, court, divorce, jon gosselin, JonGosselin, kate gosselin, KateGosselin, mark heller, Mark Momjian, MarkHeller, MarkMomjian, money, pennsylvania
Posted Oct 5th 2009 6:50AM by TMZ Staff
TMZ has obtained a letter Kate Gosselin's lawyer fired off to the lawyer for Jon -- and, to put it mildly, it's war.
Legal pit bull Marty Singer wrote the letter this past Friday. TMZ obtained a copy. In it, Singer expresses outrage that Jon secretly raided Jon and Kate's money market account "of hundreds of thousands of dollars," leaving only about $1,000. Singer says the withdrawal is not only "outrageous," it directly violates the Arbitration Award in the divorce which requires both parties to agree before any money is withdrawn.
Singer -- who says the withdrawal of funds is fraudulent and contemptible -- claims both Jon and his lawyer, Mark Heller, are hypocrites, after they went on Larry King's show and claimed family values (not money) was the important thing.
Singer says Heller has done this before, citing a New York Supreme Court decision which says Heller directed one of his clients in a divorce to "withdraw everything that's in the bank" so the money could be used to pay his fee.
And then there's this ... Singer blasts Heller, noting that the New York Supreme Court "addressed charges that you violated 'thirty-eight counts alleging multiple violations of the disciplinary rules,' and charges that you 'had engaged in a pattern of misconduct involving misrepresentations, deceit, abusive treatment of clients, fee gouging, neglect and willful failure to return unearned retainers to his clients' in matters which involved your 'mishandling of the matters of twelve separate clients.'" The letter goes on to claim Heller admitted to engaging in "professional misconduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation."
As we first reported, Kate's lawyers are going to court tomorrow, demanding that the monies be returned to the account and asking for a contempt citation.
We called Heller but he was not available for comment.
Filed under: TV, Jon & Kate, Exclusives
Tags: bank account, BankAccount, jon and kate plus 8, jon gosselin, JonAndKatePlus8, JonGosselin, kate gosselin, KateGosselin, mark heller, MarkHeller, money
