Marvin Mitchelson

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Marvin Mitchelson (May 7, 1928 - September 18, 2004 in Beverly Hills, California) was a celebrity lawyer who pioneered the concept of palimony, calling it "marriage with no rings attached."

Mitchelson earned a B.A. from UCLA and his J.D. from Southwestern University, and was admitted to the California Bar on June 4, 1957. In 1963, he won a landmark United States Supreme Court decision giving indigent defendants the right to legal counsel.

He gained national publicity when he was hired by Michelle Triola, a lounge singer who lived with actor Lee Marvin as his personal partner from 1964 until 1970, when Marvin told her to move out because he wanted to marry another woman. Mitchelson helped Triola — who claimed that she was entitled to the same benefits as a divorcée, which meant half of Marvin's then-$3.6 million fortune — win her right to bring suit. Although Triola was awarded $104,000 for "rehabilitation" in 1978 (the ruling was overturned in 1981; Marvin never paid Triola any money), Marvin v. Marvin (Triola assumed Marvin's name during the relationship) set a precedent.

Marvin's celebrity clients included Pamela Mason (wife of James Mason), Joan Collins, Mel Tormé, Bianca Jagger, Carl Sagan, Mrs. William Shatner, and many ex-wives of errant playboy sheiks. He owned a 38-room Beverly Hills mansion (which now belongs to Johnny Depp), a fleet of two-tone Rolls-Royces and epitomised the 70s champagne and cocaine lifestyle, consuming both in increasingly large quantities until a series of unpaid tax bills and malpractice complaints caught up with him.

He said, "A divorce lawyer is a chameleon with a law book." In his Century City office he had a chair owned by Rudolph Valentino and an illuminated ceiling of Botticelli's Venus which matched his belt buckle.

He saw two rape charges dropped, but in 1993 he was suspended for failing to adequately supervise an associate and improper conduct in the use of a client trust account, a 1994 suspension for failure to take the professional responsibility exam, a 1995 probation revocation, and a 1996 discipline for failure to provide accountings or return unearned fees in 14 client matters. A 1993 conviction for not paying taxes on some $2 million in income resulted in suspension from the Bar, bankruptcy and eventually two years in jail from 1996 to 1998. The case was initiated by a former girlfriend of Mitchelson's and was investigated by IRS Special Agent James Lawrence Wilson.

He wept on his first day in Lompoc prison, but ultimately found white-collar incarceration stimulating. He organised an opera appreciation society, ran the library and helped other prisoners with their appeals.

He was able to resume his practice in 2000 after presenting a "humble and contrite" figure to the court. His last high-profile client was longtime friend Phil Spector, whom Mitchelson was to defend against murder charges when he died.

Ironically, Mitchelson was himself married for 45 years — to a feisty former Italian starlet, Marcella. They had one son, Morgan. He joked that his matrimonial success was bad for his divorce practice, but the relationship was often stormy. She once tried to mow down one of his mistresses in her car. He filed for divorce a number of times, but admitted he was always too scared to serve her the papers.