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Letter to the editor

Trustee: Jail Pearlman lawyer

Lou Pearlman's former attorney refuses to answer questions in his bankruptcy case, citing attorney-client privilege.

By HELEN HUNTLEY, Times Personal Finance Editor
Published September 20, 2007

The trustee in the Lou Pearlman bankruptcy case is asking the judge to send Pearlman's former attorney to jail for contempt of court.

Trustee Soneet Kapila says Rene Chamberlain should be locked up for refusing to answer questions and failing to turn over documents the court ordered her to produce. He also is demanding her laptop computer, which she says was lost or stolen.

Kapila called Chamberlain's conduct outrageous and asked Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Briskman for an emergency hearing. In addition, he said he is referring the case to federal prosecutors for investigation. He said it appears she obstructed justice, destroyed estate records and lied under oath.

Chamberlain, who did not respond to a request for comment, claimed in a deposition two weeks ago that attorney-client privilege prevented her from answering questions or turning over documents. She also claimed to have given a box of financial documents several months ago to an anonymous courier who met her by the side of the road at Pearlman's instructions.

Chamberlain, 45, is a graduate of Mississippi College School of Law and a former Marion County assistant public defender who was in-house counsel for some of Pearlman's companies from 2002 to 2004. She says she represented him personally in several matters this year even though the $70,000 check he gave her as a retainer bounced. She now practices law part-time out of her home.

Pearlman, a music producer who created *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys, is in an Orlando jail awaiting trial on federal bank fraud charges while his assets are being liquidated in bankruptcy court. Banks and investors claim he owes them about $500-million.

Pearlman is now represented by a federal public defender.

Helen Huntley can be reached at hhuntley@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8230.

[Last modified September 19, 2007, 23:04:57]