Dame Dash‘s attorneys are not thrilled with the embattled Roc-A-Fella co-founder as they are now trying to cut ties with him due to overdue legal fees.
According to court documents obtained by AllHipHop on Sunday (March 3), Sanders Roberts LLP filed a motion to sever ties with the entrepreneur after he breached their agreement. The company was defending him after he was sued by photographer Monique Bunn for $51 million.
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The firm alleged that the mogul: “failed to fulfill their financial obligations under their retainer agreement, resulting in the firm initiating an enforcement action against them.”
Christopher Brown initially filed the lawsuit on behalf of the photographer in late February — he requested that the courts reopen Bunn’s case of damages against the Hip Hop executive, claiming that the jury in the previous case didn’t fully understand the nature of the damages Bunn had incurred as a result of Dash’s alleged actions.
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According to the 285-page memorandum of law, Dame Dash confirmed the value of the photographs he allegedly withheld from Bunn and knew that he didn’t properly compensate her for using them the way he had (that is, beyond the scope of promotional purposes). For this reason, Brown argued, the case needed to be reopened.
“The evidence at trial – which was uncontroverted – established that each photo was worth $1,500, which should have resulted in a verdict for at least $384,750,000,” Brown wrote. “It is well known that professional photographers earn much of their income through licensing their portfolio of photographs, and Defendants’ actions destroyed Ms. Bunn’s economic prospects. The jury ignored the valuation evidence and awarded zero to Ms. Bunn.”
He continued: “It is impossible to conceive how a jury could conclude that a professional photographer’s portfolio of thousands of photos, as well as photography equipment, could be worth zero. Especially when the Plaintiff and the Defendants both testify that the damages are in the millions. A new trial is warranted under these circumstances.”
Christopher Brown is also the same attorney behind the order to sell Dash’s shares in Roc-A-Fella Records to satisfy a judgment awarded to Dear Frank producer Josh Webber that totals to nearly $900,000.
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According to documents obtained by Radar Online in mid-February, a judge ordered Dame to sell his shares of Roc-A-Fella Records after he allegedly refused to pay a $823k judgment to Weber that stemmed from the 2016 film mentioned above.
Both JAY-Z and Kareem “Biggs” Burke objected to the 52-year-old having to sell his shares in an auction, on the basis that company bylaws mandate that the board of directors must first approve the sell-off. However, US Magistrate Robert W. Lehrburger ruled that the former exec’s one-third ownership of Roc-A-Fella can be seized to help cover the judgment since it is his personal property.
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In his 15-page decision, Lehrburger blasted Hov and Biggs for creating a no-sell-off clause during a 2021 board meeting that Dame did not attend or vote for. He ordered Roc-A-Fella to deliver Dame’s stock certificate to the US Marshals Service for an auction in 180 days.
