Lawsuit settled over Michael Jackson insurance

January 15: A lawsuit over the payout of a USD 17.5 million policy related to Michael Jackson's planned comeback concerts has been settled, attorneys told a judge. Lawyers for Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's of London and for Jackson's estate announced the settlement yesterday before a hearing that would have altered what evidence could be presented at trial. Lawyers for the insurer and the estate did not know how the judge was planning to rule before announcing they had resolved the case. Lloyd's sued Jackson's estate in 2011 seeking to nullify a non-appearance and concert cancellation policy that it issued roughly two months before Jackson's death in June 2009. The insurer contended that an examination of Jackson that was required for the policy was not completed and the promoter of the "This Is It" shows did not disclose everything it knew about the singer's health when it took out the policy. Howard Weitzman, an attorney for Jackson's estate, and Paul K. Shrieffer, who represented Lloyd's, said both sides were pleased the case was resolved. Weitzman said terms were confidential. The case, if it had gone to trial, would have put the focus once again on Jackson's health in the weeks and months before he died. A trial had been scheduled for February 24. The insurer initially sued Jackson's concert promoter, AEG Live LLC, but the company was later dismissed from the legal action. In another case, a judge on Monday refused to order a retrial in a lawsuit filed by Jackson's mother against AEG Live that contended it negligently hired the doctor convicted of killing her son. The settlement of Jackson's estate also is pending, with claims by the singer's former manager yet to be decided.