An army of lawyers appeared during the first major probate hearing involving Michael Jackson’s estate on Monday, as everyone with a potential stake in Jackson’s assets is now being represented by an attorney.
During the hearing, Los Angeles County, Calif., Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff ruled that Jackson’s longtime attorney, John Branca, a name partner at Ziffren, Brittenham, Branca, Fischer, Gilbert-Lurie, Stiffelman, Cook, Johnson, Lande & Wolf in Los Angeles, and record executive John McClain, had been designated as temporary administrators of the estate, which is estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Jackson’s mother, Katherine Jackson, who has temporary custody of her son’s children, had wanted to oversee the estate before the will was discovered.
