Legal

Kim Kardashian's says she's doing her homework to become a lawyer, and it's a daily grind that's turned her family life upside down -- but she insists haters won't discourage her from achieving her dream.

Kim shared a photo of herself hitting the books with attorneys Jessica Jackson and Erin Haney, studying for what she calls California's baby bar exam -- a requirement for anyone studying law the way she is ... as an apprentice with Jackson and Haney's firm.

She says, "For the next 4 years, a minimum of 18 hours a week is required, I will take written and multiple choice tests monthly." Kim's approaching the end of her first year, and says she's hitting the books hard right now to prep for a Torts essay on negligence due this week.

As we reported, Kim plans to take the bar exam by 2022. She's clearly heard the critics who claim she can only do this because of her privilege and money. She fired back, "I want people to understand that there is nothing that should limit your pursuit of your dreams, and the accomplishment of new goals. You can create your own lanes, just as I am."

She adds, however, it ain't easy -- saying she studies all weekend and at nights after working all day and putting her kids to bed. She says she's so committed to achieving her dream, she changed her number last year to disconnect and focus.

Jussie Smollett is living it up on the beach in Hawaii like a guy with no problems at all -- not at all like a guy who's staring down an impending legal battle with the City of Chicago that could cost him dearly.

The "Empire" star is on vacay right now with his family, laughing it up and catching some rays in paradise. Dude's even going boogie boarding!

It's about as far away from Chicago as he could be, mentally, anyway. The other shoe could drop any day now ... remember, the City of Chicago says it's about to slap him with a civil lawsuit to recover the $130k cost of investigating the alleged homophobic and racist attack.

For now ... Jussie and his fam are snacking, catching waves and having a blast.

We got Jussie over the weekend in Woodland Hills where he was mum about the suit. His lawyer, Mark Geragos, insists Chicago is maliciously defaming his client, hinting the actor might file a lawsuit of his own.

9:11 AM -- Avenatti vehemently denies any wrongdoing. He said, "Any claim that any monies due clients were mishandled is bogus nonsense." He tweeted what he says is a testimonial from the paraplegic client he's accused of stealing millions from ... saying the client signed the doc less than a month ago attesting to his ethics.

Avenatti added he looks forward to proving his innocence.

8:52 AM -- TMZ's obtained the indictment and it's pretty damming. He's being indicted on 36 counts of fraud, perjury, failure to pay taxes and other financial crimes. According to docs ... Avenatti allegedly stole millions from a mentally ill paraplegic on disability who had scored a $4M settlement from L.A. County. The money had been wired to Avenatti in January 2015 and he allegedly hid the dough for years.

Avenatti's also accused of using $2.75 million in proceeds from another client's legal settlement to buy a private jet. Avenatti allegedly concealed that settlement too. The infamous lawyer is also accused of owing millions of dollars in back taxes and making false statements to the IRS.

Michael Avenatti's under a mountain of legal trouble now -- the IRS and the Department of Justice say he's been hit with a 36-count indictment that could land him in prison for life ... but he's already calling it BS.

A federal grand jury in California handed up the indictment Thursday, and if 36 charges sound like a lot ... it is. He faces up to 335 years in prison if convicted!!!

Avenatti says he intends to fully fight all charges and plead not guilty. He added, "I look forward to the entire truth being known as opposed to a one-sided version meant to sideline me."

As you know ... Avenatti was arrested and charged last month for allegedly trying to extort millions out of Nike. That case was brought on by the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York -- and on the same day, the U.S. Attorney's Office in L.A. announced a separate case against him for wire fraud.

If you're keeping score, that's 3 federal cases and dozens of charges.

As we reported ... Avenatti allegedly siphoned off a $1.6 million settlement he scored for a client in 2017 and hid it in a personal bank account he controlled in the wire fraud case. He's also accused of defrauding a bank for millions of dollars worth of loans by submitting fake tax returns between 2011 and 2013.

12:56 PM -- Kim's attorney, Shawn Holley, tells TMZ ... Kim's been authentically interested in the law for a long, long time and adds she's truly interested in being a justice warrior.

Check out the vid ... Holley tells us Kim was much more involved in helping Alice Marie Johnson get freed than people might think.

Kim Kardashian wants to take the law into her own hands ... by becoming an attorney, and she's aiming to get it done within 3 years.

Kim revealed her legal aspirations -- saying she's actively studying to be a lawyer -- in a Vogue profile. She's not attending a law school, but she does have a master plan to take the bar exam by 2022.

In order to prepare for that, she has begun a 4-year apprenticeship at a San Francisco-based law firm ... which she got started last summer with support and consulting from Van Jones and attorney Jessica Jackson.

Her reason for embarking on this difficult road ... Alice Marie Johnson.

As you know ... Kim played a huge role in getting the ex-con released early by lobbying President Trump and even showing up to talk to him face-to-face.

Well, turns out that experience had a bigger impact on Kim than some might've expected. She says, "I’m sitting in the Roosevelt Room with, like, a judge who had sentenced criminals and a lot of really powerful people and I just sat there, like, Oh, sh*t. I need to know more."

Kim adds, "I would say what I had to say, about the human side and why this is so unfair. But I had attorneys with me who could back that up with all the facts of the case. It’s never one person who gets things done; it’s always a collective of people, and I’ve always known my role, but I just felt like I wanted to be able to fight for people who have paid their dues to society."

Interestingly enough, Kim's been told in the past by her own attorneys that she's got the chops to be a real deal attorney. Looks like she's taking that to heart. Of course, she'd be following in the footsteps of her father, Robert Kardashian.

For the record ... Kim does NOT need to go to law school in order to become a licensed lawyer. She just needs to pass the bar, which she's studying to do right now. Good luck!!!

Jussie Smollett may have just been checkmated by the City of Chicago, and it could cost him his "Empire" job.

The City is now demanding he pay $130k for the overtime required to investigate the now-infamous "attack." A City official sent Jussie a demand letter, but his people have already rejected the request, saying the only person owed anything is Jussie -- as in, an apology from the Mayor and Police Superintendent.

This has now set up a courtroom showdown, and sources connected to the Mayor tell TMZ ... they will absolutely file a civil case to get the money. Under the law, the City can actually collect 3 times the actual amount owed as a penalty -- meaning around $390,000.

If Jussie fights it in court, his "attack" case will be fully litigated. A judge will have to decide if the attack was fake before deciding whether Jussie is required to pay. What's more, the judge would only have to rule that it's more likely than not -- 51/49 percent -- that Jussie faked the attack. That's a much lower standard of proof than a criminal case, which requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt for a conviction.

Now here's the hard part for Jussie. If a judge rules the attack was fake, it gives the honchos at "Empire" all the ammo they need to say he's fired, despite the fact the State's Attorney has dismissed the criminal case.

And, to add insult to injury, if Jussie loses the case but refuses to pay the judgment, the City can execute on the judgment, and that would include garnishing wages and freezing bank accounts -- including his "Empire" salary.

Michael Avenatti's new legal woes -- being accused of extortion and fraud -- could derail the case against R. Kelly ... that's what the singer's lawyer thinks.

R. Kelly's attorney, Steve Greenberg, tells TMZ ... now that Avenatti has been charged with extortion as well as bank and tax fraud, his credibility is now a centerpiece in the singer's case -- specifically, the circumstances surrounding how prosecutors obtained a key piece of evidence.

That evidence, of course, is a sex tape that Cook County investigators claim shows R. Kelly having sex with an underage girl, who's alleged to be 14 years old. It's what many believe to be a smoking gun against R. Kelly ... and the catalyst that led to a 10-count indictment.

Greenberg says the issue of "chain of custody" -- how Cook County got hold of that tape via Avenatti -- is now questionable. Greenberg strongly suggests the possibility the tape could've been altered before it got to prosecutors.

Sources connected to the case tell us that the man who handed the tape over to Avenatti is a whistle-blower who has a history of extorting R. Kelly.

We're told the man recently confessed to prosecutors in Chicago that he squeezed about a million dollars out of R. Kelly's team in the past to stop the tape from going public. So, the question ... if the guy got the cash, how would Avenatti have gotten it?

Remember, there were supposedly TWO R. Kelly sex tapes that Avenatti turned over to Cook County officials, but Greenberg tells us he's only aware of one.

Either way, if Greenberg can create reasonable doubt in the jury's mind as to authenticity ... he could get R. Kelly off. Hey, we've seen it happen before.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib says President Trump is NOT off the hook in Robert Mueller's Russian collusion investigation ... because she clearly doesn't trust the man who summarized it.

We got the Democrat Congresswoman at Reagan National and raised the issue ... isn't it a good thing for the country if the Prez didn't collude with Putin and Co.? The Congresswoman recoiled and made it clear ... she's not convinced Trump's clean, given all we know is what his hired gun, Attorney General William Barr, said in his letter.

Barr did quote Mueller's conclusion on the issue of collusion ... "[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities."

The unconvinced Tlaib says the only way this "dark cloud" can be lifted is for the report to be released in full, without a cushion from a Trump ally.

Rich the Kid allegedly pulled a prank on his former landlord's attorney who was trying to collect on late rent he owed ... and now she's suing.

Maro Burunsuzyan just filed suit against the NYC MC, claiming Rich posted her phone number publicly on his social media. According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Maro says Rich tweeted on Feb. 14, "Valentines calls me" ... followed by her personal cell.

As a result, Maro claims she was bombarded by at least 500 text messages and multiple phone calls from Rich the Kid fans who thought they were his digits.

As for why Maro believes he did this ... she says she's been hounding Rich in court for damages and late rent she claims he owes for a house her client rented to him this past summer. He moved out in January, and Maro says he's been giving her the runaround.

In the docs, she says she told him on Valentine's Day they were done talking since it was clear he wasn't going to pay her ... and she says he responded with "Oh, really?" Shortly afterward, Maro claims he posted her number and the harassment ensued.

For the record ... the alleged tweet Rich sent appears to have been deleted.

12:27 PM PT -- A sketch artist caught Manafort in court Wednesday.

10:00 AM PT -- Manafort just got hit with 16 NEW charges in an NYC indictment tied to a mortgage fraud scheme. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. says Manafort will now face 16 felonies for alleged residential mortgage fraud, conspiracy and falsifying business records ... to name just a few.

What's that thing about raining and pouring? It's a monsoon for Manafort.

Paul Manafort is nearly doubling his time behind bars -- another judge just sentenced him to an extra 43 months .... nearly 4 more years in the pen.

President Trump's former campaign manager went through his second sentencing Wednesday in D.C., where a judge presided over the criminal case Robert Mueller's office prosecuted. Manafort got an additional 43 months in prison ... on top of the tax and bank fraud sentence he got last week.

You'll recall ... Manafort got 47 months in that matter. This additional time will bring his full prison sentence to 7 1/2 years.

This second case includes 2 conspiracy charges. Federal prosecutors accused Manafort of witness tampering and obstruction of justice after he was released on bail ... saying he urged 2 witnesses to commit perjury in his defense.

That got him sent back to the slammer, where he's been ever since last June. For the record ... Manafort pled guilty to the 2 conspiracy charges.

Manafort apologized for his crimes during Wednesday's sentencing -- he read a statement from his wheelchair, and begged the judge to "let my wife and I be together." He reminded the judge that he is about to turn 70, and his wife is 66.

Manafort actually got sentenced to 73 months, but the judge allowed 30 of them to be served concurrently with the 47 months for fraud.

Just one day after Kim Kardashian tore into a fast fashion company for ripping off her style ... she's hammering the message home by taking a different one to court.

Kim just filed suit against Missguided USA -- an online retailer that sells outfits resembling ones worn by celebs, and oftentimes by Kim herself -- for using her name and image without permission to advertise their own "knock-off" designs.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Kim cites multiple instances where Missguided posted its own versions of outfits Kim was photographed wearing. Kim claims the outfits are often whipped up and peddled in a matter of days, sometimes hours.

Her lawsuit includes a side by side of her own post, next to one from Missguided as evidence of what pisses her off about the company.

She also says Missguided often tags her on their social media posts -- and includes photos of her -- giving people the wrong idea that she's working with the co.

Sources close to the case tell us the Missguided lawsuit is just one of many more to come against fashion knockoff brands.

It's interesting ... Kim just slammed Fashion Nova for recreating her vintage Mugler "boob belt" dress from the other night, saying this practice by fast fashion companies was "devastating." Fashion Nova did not use her image to sell their stuff.

Missguided, however, did ... and that's why Kim's going after them.

Alfonso Ribeiro making the "Carlton Dance" popular on 'The Fresh Prince' doesn't mean he legally owns it ... according to the feds, and it could mean a big L for him in his battle with Fortnite.

The bad news became public this week in court -- a registration specialist for the U.S. Copyright Office told Alfonso's attorney that the actor's bid to lock down the rights to the dance is being denied. The copyright pro said Alfonso's moves amount to nothing more than a "simple dance routine."

As if that wasn't enough of a shot at Carlton ... the expert broke down the dance step-by-step, saying ... "The combination of these three dance steps is a simple routine that is not registrable as a choreographic work."

We broke the story ... Alfonso is suing the creators of Fortnite -- as well as the creators of NBA 2K -- for allegedly ripping off the dance without his permission.

Aside from the fact that he'd never tried to copyright the dance in the 27 years since it debuted on 'Fresh Prince' -- as NBA 2K lawyers point out in a motion to dismiss the suit -- Alfonso also admitted on camera the dance was inspired by others. That credit goes to Courteney Cox and Eddie Murphy.

United Airlines pilots had to deal with a shattered windshield at 40,000 feet, and although the airline said bird strike caused the emergency ... one passenger claims there was a massive cover-up.

United's flight 931 left Chicago bound for London on Oct. 27, 2018, and about 3 hours into the trip the pilot announced the windshield was splintered and they had to land immediately ... according to a passenger named Theodore Liaw.

In his lawsuit against United, Theodore says he and the other passengers aboard the damaged 767 had to "white knuckle" it for 30 minutes ... while the pilot and co-pilot rapidly went from cruising altitude to Goose Bay Airport in Newfoundland, Canada.

Theodore claims United's customer support agents told them a "bird hit the windshield," but he calls that a big fat lie, and claims he got the truth straight from the pilot during 8 hours on the ground. According to the suit, he asked the pilot and co-pilot if they'd hit something, and they "chuckled" and said that was impossible because "there's nothing alive at 40,000 feet."

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Theodore says the pilots openly confessed it was most likely caused by a mechanic over-tightening windshield bolts. They also admitted 2 of 3 layers of the glass were destroyed and they were nearly sucked out of the cockpit ... according to the suit.

Theodore is suing United for negligence. He says he hurt his back in the emergency landing and he's suffered horrible plane crash nightmares ever since the flight.

Stormy Daniels is taking some of the police officers who arrested her at a strip club last year to court -- claiming they only went after her for speaking out against President Trump.

The former porn star just filed suit against several members of the Columbus Division of Police who serve in the vice unit, in which she alleges the only reason these cops falsely arrested her last summer at Sirens is quite simple ... allegiance to Trump.

In the docs -- obtained by TMZ -- Stormy claims that the officers listed entered into a conspiracy with each other upon learning that she'd be making an appearance in the area, and decided to go undercover with the sole intention of retaliation and ruining her rep.

Stormy had recently spoken out about her alleged affair with Trump on "60 Minutes," and she believes the actions of these officers were in direct response to that.

She claims the cops violated her civil rights by falsely arresting and imprisoning her, and now ... she's asking a judge to award her damages for it.

R. Kelly knew good and well that his one-time protege (and future wife) Aaliyah was a 14-year-old child the same year he married her -- which debunks a claim put forth by his lawyer that the singer was oblivious to her being a minor.

An old video of a documentary about R. Kelly from 1994 has resurfaced online and in this section ... Kelly clearly acknowledges Aaliyah's age (apparently, 14 at the time this was shot) as she records a song in the studio, with him serving as producer.

In the YouTube clip, you hear Kelly say clear as day ... "Right now I'm producing a very talented lady -- a young lady. She's 14, Aaliyah. She's real street."

Kelly went on to marry Aaliyah that same year, which reportedly got annulled shortly after. Despite this evidence of Kelly clearly being aware of Aaliyah's age, the singer's new attorney, Steve Greenberg, insisted to ABC News last week that his client was unaware of her being 15.

He says she must've lied about her age to legally marry Kelly, and that Kelly had "no idea."

R. Kelly hasn't said much about his marriage to Aaliyah or her age, but he told GQ in 2016, "I can tell you I loved her, I can tell you she loved me, we was very close. We were, you know, best best best best friends."

Kelly and Aaliyah appeared together for a BET interview in 1994, where they denied they were in a romantic relationship ... and played coy about her age, calling it a "secret."

In light of this new video, Greenberg tells us ... he misspoke during the ABC interview, and probably shouldn't have put words in R. Kelly's mouth, as he says he never spoke to Kelly about Aaliyah specifically.

Kevin Spacey appeared in a Nantucket court to face the charge of felony indecent assault ... and interestingly he did not enter a plea.

Spacey has said in legal docs he was pleading not guilty, but the judge never asked him to enter a plea.

Spacey was ordered not to have any contact with the alleged victim or his family.

The actor's lawyer has said there are texts between the alleged victim and his girlfriend at the time of the incident and later as well. The alleged victim told cops his girlfriend didn't believe he was being assaulted by Spacey and he sent her a very short Snapchat video, showing a hand on clothes but not genitals

Spacey's lawyer asked the judge to preserve texts and cellphone records between the alleged victim and his girlfriend from July 7, 2016 to the present. Spacey's lawyer said he believes those texts were "likely exculpatory" -- translation, proof that Spacey didn't assault the then 18-year-old at a Nantucket bar.

His legal team requested he be allowed to skip the hearing, arguing it would "amplify the negative publicity already generated in connection with the case." The judge shot him down, though, and ordered Spacey to get his ass to court to enter his plea in person.

Spacey's lawyer claims the actor's contact with the 18-year-old was consensual, pointing to what he claims was 3-minutes of touching without the young man ever objecting.

Sofia Vergara doubts her ex truly lives in Louisiana -- where they're at war over 2 of their frozen embryos -- and now wants a court to force him to prove it.

The "Modern Family" star just filed a new motion in her never-ending legal fight with Nick Loeb, asking a judge to make him fork over documentation to confirm he's a real Pelican State resident, after allegedly refusing to cooperate with her lawyers' requests.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Sofia says Nick's claim that he's settled down in Plaquemines Parish, LA -- a pro-life state that recognizes embryos as human beings -- doesn't pass the smell test, because he hasn't ponied up convincing evidence to support it ... like grocery store receipts, or bank info from the area to show he's got a life there.

Sofia doesn't say it outright, but it's strongly implied she thinks he's full of it, and wants a judge to compel him to hand over paperwork to her legal team.

FWIW ... Nick's lawyers claim he rented a place in PP, LA and is registered to vote, but wouldn't tell us how often he stays at the property, if at all. He also set up a trust fund for the embryos, and has named them Emma and Isabella.