Michael Jackson has received around 1,500 lawsuits during his long career in popmusic. Lawyers acting in the latest one, due to be heard in court LosAngeles next month, claim that ”the day of reckoning is near”. Papers filed in the Los Angeles county superior court claim that he is a”ticking financial timebomb waiting to explode”. There have been so many lawsuits in recent months, according to hislawyer, Brian Oxman, that they are making Jackson physically ill. Lastweek, when the latest one arrived in Indianapolis, Jackson was taken fortreatment to hospital, suffering from what Mr Oxman described as ”reactionto lawsuits”. ”He has, on some occasions in the past, not eaten when he should,” MrOxman said. ”He can become very concerned and nervous at depositions. Hedoesn’t like lawsuits, and it makes him ill to have to cope with litigationthat people seem to heap on him … This is the kind of life that Michaelleads. No one wants to be reasonable. Everyone wants to be crazy. He istired of being sued.” Many of the lawsuits have been brought by people who know that sometimes itis simpler and cheaper to settle an action than go through the long andpublicity-fuelled process of fighting it in court. In this, Jackson hasbeen a victim, like many others of similar fame and wealth, of disgruntledpeople in the business with lawyers who know that they will get 40% ofwhatever their client happens to win and that Jackson may settle ratherthan go through more legal bother. What is different about the latest suit is that it has been brought bythe people Jackson brought in to try to regularise his financial matters.The lawsuit claims that Jackson owes the Union Finance and InvestmentCorporation of South Korea $12m in unpaid fees andexpenses. According to the company, which filed the claim in LA, they werehired by Jackson to sort out his money matters in 1998 but had not beenaware of what they described as his extravagant lifestyle at the time ofthe deal. They now claim he has only two months of available funding leftand for that reason they are seeking what they claim they are owed. ”For whatever reason, Michael Jackson is not paying his debts,”attorney Pierce O’Donnell told the Associated Press. ”He has little or nomeans of income. He lives off a line of credit. The day of reckoning isnear.” The latest suit may sound ominous but reports of Michael Jackson’simpending financial demise have often been exaggerated and arrive asregularly as the seasons. The more vulnerable someone seems in the publiceye, the more allegations and lawsuits they tend to attract. ”Just because you read it in a magazine or see it on a televisionscreen, don’t make it factual, actual,” has been the singer’s response tothe thousands of stories that have floated around him and were reignitedwhen he gave his recent interview to Martin Bashir about his life. ”I see no signs of this impending disaster, I cannot say it for 100%sure because nobody knows his financial statements,” said Brian Oxman.”But I can say it for a reasonable certainty.” He said that Union Financehad already been paid for the work they had done for Jackson. UnionFinance, which first launched the lawsuit a year ago and say they tookdepositions from Jackson in Beverly Hills last week, claim that thesinger’s financial situation is indeed serious. Jackson’s record sales havefailed to keep pace with his increasingly lavish tastes. The 44-year-old has earned an estimated £ 350m in hiscareer. He made £ 70m from 1982’s Thriller alone, whichshifted 50m copies and remains the biggest-selling album of all time. But the cost of his albums has soared while their sales have plummeted.His last release, Invincible, cost £ 18m to produce yet soldless than 7m copies. A report by the business magazine Forbes last year estimated his networth at £ 200m, but warned that he had incurred big debtsand that his spending seemed to be out of control. Forbes found that hismain income after record sales came from touring (£ 60m)although he had also made £ 60m from merchandise,endorsements, videos and films. His staff’s indiscretion adds to his coffers: in 2001 five formeremployees paid him £ 1m for breaching privacy agreements.Penalties for disclosure of information include £ 30,000 perperson spoken to and £ 3m per broadcast made on US networktelevision. Fines for derogatory remarks start at £ 6,000 perperson spoken to in private conversation. The star, or his advisers, have made some canny investments. But he hashad to use his £ 275m publishing holdings – which includemost of the Beatles titles and 300,000 other songs – as collateral againsta £ 120m loan. He recently put his 1,100-hectare ranch, Neverland, on the market for£ 15m. Visitors say its petting zoo and theme park have beenrun down, slashing annual maintenance bills to £ 2m from apeak of £ 6m. But Jackson spends millions on other propertiesand hotels: a brief jaunt to New York cost him £ 60,000. In February, Martin Bashir’s documentary showed the star splurging£ 4m in minutes at a Las Vegas furnishing store. But Jackson is nothing if not generous. He recently gave his friendElizabeth Taylor a $10,000 bottle of perfume. And, notoriously, hundreds of children visit Neverland at his expenseeach year. One trip cost him a reported £ 12m, when hesettled allegations of sexual abuse out of court in 1993. He owes £ 6m to a concert promoter after cancelling tourdates, and faces lawsuits from two former managers. Sotheby’s last weekannounced that he had settled the £ 1m lawsuit it launchedwhen he changed his mind after buying two paintings. His brief marriage to Debbie Rowe also proved expensive: divorce costhim around £ 11m. Last week’s other legal action which had laid Jackson low in hospital inIndianapolis was a claim against Jackson as a former member of the JacksonFive over a dispute that goes back to the 60s. The judge in the caseordered that Jackson return to give a deposition within three weeks once hehas recovered. Last week, in the small Californian town of Solvang, the offices ofcongressman, Elton Gallegly, had a visit from a local constituent. Thevisitor, who wore a Spiderman mask, had a complaint. ”How come Solvangdoesn’t have any fast-food restaurants?” he asked before removing hismask, introducing himself, apologising politely for the interruption andheading off in a black Bentley to patronise a Taco Bell in another lessfastidious town. The constituent was Michael Jackson whose Neverland ranch is nearby.Demonstrating, perhaps, that as long as you’ve got your Bentley to collectyour taco takeaway, those lawsuits can be kept in perspective. — Â