IN THE NEWS: Elizabeth Austin Comments on 50 Cent Bankruptcy Case

Pullman & Comley Bankruptcy Practice Chair Elizabeth Austin was quoted in a story in The Washington Post on the bankruptcy filing of rapper 50 Cent (Curtis Jackson) on Thursday, July 16.

Last week, a jury in a civil damages case in the state court in New York City concluded that Mr. Jackson must pay Ms. Austin's creditor client Lastonia Leviston $5 million in compensatory damages. The verdict vindicated Ms. Leviston’s claim that, without her consent, Mr. Jackson had posted a sex video of her online.

On Monday, Mr. Jackson filed his bankruptcy petition in Hartford fifteen minutes before the start of a scheduled hearing in the New York case on whether he must pay Ms. Leviston punitive damages on top of the $5 million. 

Ms. Austin told the reporter, “I think we’re very clear in our papers that he’s engaged in numerous tactics to delay the eventual entry of a judgment in the state court litigation.”

Note:  On Friday, July 17 in Hartford, Ms. Austin argued in support of the motion to lift the automatic bankruptcy stay to require the punitive damages hearing to go forward.  The Bankruptcy Court granted the motion for relief from the stay. 

To read the full story, please click here.