Michael Jackson

King of Pop Michael Jackson have been ordered to pay more than $256,000 in legal fees to a California law firm that handled some side issues during his 2005 child molestation trial. A Superior Court judge signed a judgment Friday that awarded $216,837 along with $39,177 in interest to the Torrance firm of Ayscough & Marar, according to court records. Jackson's attorney, Marshall Brubacher, agreed in principle to the judgment June 26 when he told the judge that going to trial would be costlier and "we want to stop the hemorrhaging." The law firm sued the 48-year-old pop star for failing to pay legal fees for preventing the release of some information to the public and to lawyers in civil cases during his 2005 criminal trial in Santa Barbara County. Jackson was eventually acquitted of child molestation charges. Jackson countersued the law firm but that case was dismissed. Last month, Jackson settled a breach-of-contract lawsuit with financial company Prescient Acquisitions Group over $48 million brokerage fees for the singer's multi-million dollar loans