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Mick Mars scores initial victory in ongoing lawsuit against Mötley Crüe
“Finally, somebody, somewhere told these guys they can’t bully Mick anymore,” the rocker’s lawyer told Rolling Stone.
Image: ZUMA Press, Inc / Alamy
Former Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars has scored a first win in the ongoing legal battle against his ex-bandmates. Both sides have been battling since last April, with Mars accusing his former members of cutting him out of profits and kicking him out against his will.
Now, a Los Angeles judge has ruled that the rock band had unfairly withheld information about its extensive business activities, leaving Mars no choice but to sue for the documents.
“The requests were not burdensome. Yet, Mars was compelled to file suit, and it appears plain that production would not have occurred without it. Mars is entitled to attorney fees,” Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant said in his ruling [via Rolling Stone].
The judge also noted that Mötley Crüe claimed to have given Mars “all of the responsive documents” he requested in November, only for the guitarist to receive an additional 1,372 pages of records from the band in early December.
“These documents should have been produced without the need for prodding by Mars,” Judge Chalfant wrote. “[The] failure to produce the documents earlier than December 8 amounts to a refusal.”
The ruling also concluded that Mars’ lawsuit was now “moot”, which means that his recent requests for subsequent 2023 general ledger entries won’t be granted because they weren’t included on his list of still-outstanding documents filed in November.
Lawyers for both sides have claimed victory following Tuesday’s ruling, though Mars’ attorney, Ed McPherson, highlighted that the heart of the case – whether Mars was illegally removed from the band – is still heading to private arbitration later this year.
“Finally, somebody, somewhere told these guys they can’t bully Mick anymore,” McPherson told Rolling Stone. “We’re in the middle of a huge arbitration that will ultimately decide if Mick has to give up his shares or not, if they did things properly or not. Obviously we claim they didn’t do anything properly. But they feel that they’re above the rules. And that’s what this lawsuit was about.”
He added: “This was them feeling they were above the rules, and this judge saying, ‘No, you’re not. And you may have given all the documents now, so there’s nothing left for me to do, but, you’re going to pay for it. I think that’s a pretty huge victory for Mick. If they want to claim a victory, that’s fine. But this is someone finally telling Mick, ‘No, you’re not crazy. These guys are bullying you. And we’re not going to let it happen.’”