Following last month’s development of a jury rejecting a lawsuit by collector Richard LaPointe over the canceled “Neverland” auction of Michael Jackson memorabilia, Julien’s Auction has now filed its own complaint against Live Auctioneers, the online bidding service provider for the event. The new complaint, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, cites two causes of auction – breach of contract and negligence.
Julien’s Auctions contends in their filing that Live Auctioneers’ mishandling of the canceled Michael Jackson “Neverland” auction resulted in the lawsuit by Mr. LaPointe against Julien’s Auctions and other defendants, which forced Julien’s Auctions “to expend needless resources, time, money and energy – for over eighteen months – to defend itself against the claims brought by Lapointe, which were directly caused by Live Auctioneers” [emphasis in original complaint].
The complaint continues, “[n]ot only did Julien’s Auctions incur and pay over $500,000 in fees and costs brought about by Live Auctioneers’ conduct, Julien’s Auctions also sustained hundreds of thousands of dollars more in damages as a result of the impact the Underlying Action had on its business”.
At the heart of the complaint, Julien’s Auctions claims that Live Auctioneers “was not permitted to take any bids from any person until such person registered with and was approved by Julien’s Auctions as an authorized bidder”.
The following excerpt from the complaint outlines the basis of the dispute:
14. During the discovery of the claim and particularly at trial, Julien’s Auctions determined that each and every one of Lapointe’s claims asserted against the defendants was based upon, among other things, the following wrongful or negligent conduct of Live Auctioneers:
a. Permitting Lapointe to place bids on Live Auctioneers’ website for the Neverland Auction before he had completed the registration process;
b. Approving Lapointe as a bidder on Live Auctioneers’ website for the Neverland Auction before he had been approved by Julien’s Auctions;
c. Placing language on Live Auctioneers’ website including, among other things, “Bid Now,” to give the misimpression that the auction had started and bidders were placing actual bids, rather than absentee/proxy bids;
d. Placing language on Live Auctioneers’ website, including, but not limited to, “Your Bid is a Contract,” to give misimpression that the auction had started and bidders were placing actual bids, rather than absentee/proxy bids;
e. Failing to state on its website that Julien’s Auctions, and not Live Auctioneers, was the auctioneer for the Neverland Auction;
f. Failing to state on its website that the absentee/proxy bids would not be transmitted to Julien’s Auctions until two hours prior to the live auction event;
g. Failing to state on its website that Live Auctioneers has no authority to accept any absentee/proxy bids under any circumstance;
h. Failing to state on its website that only Julien’s Auctions can accept absentee/proxy bids and only at the time of the live auction event;
i. Failing to state on its website stating that all bids placed before the live auction event were absentee/proxy bids and not actual bids;
j. Failing to clearly state on its website that the live auction event would not start until April 22, 2009; and
k. Sending an e-mail to Lapointe stating that his bids had been accepted, when, in fact, they had not.
As this complaint was only filed last week, there is no public response from Live Auctioneers to the complaint and charges. As such, this preliminary reporting currently provides only one perspective on this dispute.
By way of historical background, The Original Prop Blog has provided real-time coverage of events related to the canceled Michael Jackson “Neverland” auction going back to the beginning, in early March 2009.
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Below is a timeline based on these past articles, brief summaries, and how they relate to the new lawsuit by Julien’s Auctions against Live Auctioneers:
March 5, 2009 – Auction House Controversies In The News: Christie’s & China, Antiquorium & India, Julien’s Auctions & Michael Jackson
March 5, 2009 was the day that TMZ broke the news that Michael Jackson was threatening a lawsuit against Julien’s Auctions over the auction of personal property from Jackson’s Neverland Ranch. The live auction event was scheduled for April 22-25, 2009.
March 7, 2009 – Auction Network Pulls The Plug On Julien’s Auctions Amid Michael Jackson Lawsuit Controversy
Just two days after reports of possible legal action against Julien’s Auctions over the sale of the material from Neverland Ranch, Auction Network made a public statement on their website that they were withdrawing as the online bidding service provider “unless and until the controversy is resolved between the parties“.
In light of the new complaint against the replacement online bidding service provider – Live Auctioneers – it would appear that Auction Network made a fortuitous decision.
March 18, 2009 – Superior Court Lawsuit Filing: Michael Jackson’s MJJ Productions, Inc. vs Julien’s Auction House, LLC
At this point, The Original Prop Blog published the actual complaint by Michael Jackson and his MJJ Productions against Julien’s Auctions, which was actually filed with Los Angeles Superior Court on March 4, 2009 (one day prior to the TMZ breaking news report).
Also, upon review of the Julien’s Auctions website, all references to original online bidding service provider Auction Network had been removed by that date, as noted in the article.
March 24, 2009 – Michael Jackson & Julien’s Auctions Lawsuit Update, Claims of Threats: “Lives Are At Stake and There Will Be Bloodshed”
Ongoing details about the controversy over the lawsuit and pending auction.
March 26, 2009 – Michael Jackson & Julien’s Auctions Lawsuit Update: Review of Preliminary Injunction Declarations, Consignment Agreement
Ongoing details about the controversy over the lawsuit and pending auction.
March 30, 2009 – In The News: Colony Capital May “Throw Their Hat Into The Ring” To Stop Julien’s Auctions Sale of Michael Jackson Property
Ongoing details about the controversy over the lawsuit and pending auction.
April 1, 2009 – Julien’s Auctions Replaces Auction Network with Live Auctioneers for Michael Jackson Sale
It was on or about April 1, 2009 that Live Auctioneers emerged at the replacement online bidding service provider, replacing Auction Network who had withdrawn weeks earlier.
As seen in the contemporary screencaps archived in the article, Live Auctioneers featured prominently on the official Julien’s Auctions website.
While it may not have appeared to be a significant development at the time, in retrospect, it has had a substantial impact on Julien’s Auctions and various disputes and lawsuits.
April 3, 2009 – Julien’s Auctions Claims Victory in Court Hearing; Michael Jackson Denied Return of Personal Property
At this stage, it appeared more likely than not that Julien’s Auctions would prevail in their efforts to hold the auction as scheduled, with an additional hearing scheduled for April 15, 2009.
April 14, 2009 – Julien’s Auctions “The Collection of Michael Jackson” Sale Event Canceled; Items to Be Returned
On this day – just a little over the month after the original complaint filed by MJJ Productions against Julien’s Auctions and one day before a second hearing in California Superior Court – it was announced that the auction that was to have taken place less ten days later was now canceled, with both parties having come to a settlement agreement in which the approximately 2,000 personal items would be returned to Michael Jackson.
As noted in this Original Prop Blog article at the time, “[i]tems listed for sale online at LiveAuctioneers.com already have bids placed by interested buyers”. Again, this would prove to be a significant development later.
June 8, 2009 – Julien’s Auctions Launches “Julien’s Live” Online Bidding Service
Less than two months after the canceled Neverland auction, in which Live Auctioneers was employed to serve as the online bidding service provider, Julien’s Auctions announced its own in-house service, “Julien’s Live”, thus negating any need in the future to contract with a third party provider.
June 25, 2009 – Michael Jackson “King of Pop” Dead at 50
It was only a little more than two months after the Neverland auction was canceled that Michael Jackson was pronounced dead following a cardiac arrest and coma.
While Michael Jackson memorabilia was of interest and considerable value previously, following his death, values on important and personal memorabilia associated with the highly regarded and iconic pop star has skyrocketed.
January 14, 2010 – Julien’s Auctions Continues To Fight Michael Jackson-Related Lawsuits
It was with this article that The Original Prop Blog first reported on the lawsuit by collector Richard LaPointe against Julien’s Auctions (as well as an update on an unrelated suit from David Gest, reported on earlier).
As noted in this article, LaPointe originally sought the items upon which he placed absentee bids, or $5 million dollars plus damages.
LaPointe named both Julien’s Auctions and MJJ Productions, Administrators of the Michael Jackson Estate, and others in the suit, but did not name the online bidding service provider, Live Auctioneers, in the complaint.
The complaint was originally filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on December 2, 2009.
February 23, 2011 – Update on Collector Lawsuit Against Julien’s Auctions Over Canceled Michael Jackson Memorabilia Sale Event
More than a year after the last update, updates on the LaPointe case against Julien’s Auctions and others was updated in local mainstream media, with reports that following the removal of some causes of action, the judge assigned to the case ruled that parties would otherwise proceed to trial.
March 21, 2011 – Beverly Hills Courier Reports on Partial Settlement of Michael Jackson Memorabilia Lawsuit with Collector Richard LaPointe
The Beverly Hills Courier reported that the Estate of Michael Jackson and collector Richard LaPointe came to a settlement agreement in which Mr. LaPointe would receive 64 of the 80+ items upon which he placed online bids through Live Auctioneers.
No settlement was made between Mr. LaPointe and Julien’s Auction House.
The Beverly Hills Courier, and subsequently other mainstream media outlets, reported on April 4, 2011 that the jury on the case brought by Mr. LaPointe against Julien’s Auctions was rejected following 30 minutes of deliberation.
In a release, Julien’s Auctions President and CEO stated:
It is opportunists like Mr. Richard LaPointe and his attorney Nicholas Hornberger that fill up our courts and the valuable time of our judges with frivolous and malicious lawsuits against individuals and companies who work hard to make an honest living. Our reputation stands on its own and we have every intention to pursue Mr. LaPointe and Mr. Nicholas Hornberger for malicious prosecution and all court and attorney costs.
Julien’s Auctions will continue to utilize every effort within our legal system to protect the business but most importantly those partners and clients who know and trust us. We are happy that justice does indeed prevail in the end.
The Original Prop Blog will continue to report on continuing developments related to these ongoing issues.
All previous Original Prop Blog articles published on this and related matters can be found via the link below:
Jason DeBord