Las Vegas attorney trying to force Strip entertainer into bankruptcy

David Strow

Tuesday, July 27, 1999 | 10:51 a.m.

The Las Vegas attorney who represented entertainer Bobby Berosini in his legal battles with animal rights activists is trying to force Berosini and his company into bankruptcy and liquidation.

Richard McKnight, of the law firm McKnight & Hendrix, has filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition against Berosini. The petition is for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which would liquidate the company and Berosini's assets to pay off creditors.

McKnight claims he is owed nearly $56,000 in legal fees by his former client. State Judge Valorie Vega ordered Berosini to pay McKnight in early May.

Joan Berosini, wife of Bobby Berosini, downplayed the filing as "legal maneuvering that doesn't mean anything." She said the couple is not insolvent, and planned to fight the petition.

The Berosinis had disputed McKnight's bills, calling them excessive, and had argued in court that the proper forum for resolving the dispute was the state bar. Joan Berosini said the two believe they were denied due process, because Vega ruled on McKnight's lien without giving them a chance to respond. She said they have appealed the ruling to the state Supreme Court.

"In America, you supposedly have rights, and you have a legal system that's supposed to protect those rights," Joan Berosini said.

McKnight has filed petitions against both Bobby Berosini and his company, Bobby Berosini Ltd. Berosini also faces a judgment of more than $360,000, owed to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) for costs incurred during the decade-long legal battle.

That means McKnight and PETA, who battled in court for the last three years, could potentially become legal allies in their effort to collect from Berosini. McKnight said he's invited PETA to join the petition.

"Everything I've done for (the Berosinis) has been successful," McKnight said. "They wanted to do battle with PETA, but they didn't want to pay for it, apparently."

McKnight said he severed his relationship with the Berosinis earlier this year after they refused to pay his legal fees. Ironically, McKnight was retained by Berosini in 1997 to fight the payment of attorney's fees and legal costs to PETA.

Bruce Judd, the attorney representing PETA, said he was unaware of the bankruptcy petition, and said he hadn't considered a similar motion to collect on PETA's judgment against Berosini.

"I haven't been able to get any money in my collection efforts," Judd said. "We know it's (assets) been transferred (out of the United States), but we don't know where it is. We're trying to find out where. There's no question that it's gone."

Since he was unaware of the petition, Judd couldn't say if he would join in the action.

Jeann Roush, former executive director of PETA, has claimed Berosini has transferred more than $2 million out of the country. McKnight said he was told by Berosini that the money was put into investments in Costa Rica.

Berosini's battle with PETA and the animal rights organization Performing Animals Welfare Society (PAWS) began in 1989, when Berosini filed a state defamation suit against the organizations. Berosini was awarded $3.1 million, but the jury verdict was reversed by the Nevada Supreme Court. A district court judge subsequently ordered Berosini to pay more than $360,000 in legal fees incurred by PETA.

PETA attempted to block the transfer of Berosini's funds out of the country in 1998, but was denied in federal court. In that case, Judge Philip Pro ruled that he didn't have jurisdiction over Berosini's assets.

Berosini's trained orangutans were the headline act throughout the 1980s at the Stardust hotel-casino's Lido de Paris show. A storm of protests over allegations that he beat his orangutans forced the act to close, and led Berosini to file his defamation suit.