K.D. Lang Wins Lawsuit Against Former Manager

04/11/07 5:00pm

by Natalia Manzocco (CHARTattack)

K.D. Lang has won a lawsuit against her former manager, who allegedly stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from the singer's bank accounts.

The Los Angeles Superior Court awarded Lang $1.9 million U.S. in damages on Tuesday in a default judgment after the manager, Annabel Lapp, abandoned her defence.

Lang sued Lapp and her artist management firm, Annabel Lapp Group, in the fall of 2005. The suit followed Lang's termination of her 16-year business relationship with Lapp that September.

Lang accused Lapp of misappropriating an unknown amount of money from her accounts. Since Lapp was reportedly unwilling to disclose more than a hint of financial information to the singer over the years, the exact sum taken wasn't calculated. Lang alleged that Lapp would frequently write cheques from Lang's accounts without disclosing their amount or purpose. She estimated that the misappropriated funds could total millions of dollars.

After Lapp was fired, Lang reportedly paid her $10,000 to organize, box and ship over her financial records from her time as Lang's manager. Lang said that Lapp immediately demanded more than $50,000 in additional charges, plus a $75,000 fee to oversee the transfer of Lang's affairs to a new manager.

The suit also alleged that, shortly after Lapp's dismissal, she wrote five cheques totalling $22,000 on Lang's accounts without permission.

Lapp is based in Victoria, British Columbia and her lawyer, Michael Velletta, believes that despite this victory, Lang may not actually see any of her settlement funds. Velletta says that Lang should have filed the suit in Canada, since all her business dealings with Lapp occurred here. Since it wasn't, Velletta doesn't think that the decision will be enforceable in Canada.

Lapp hired California lawyers to handle the case, but abandoned her defence because the cost would be too high to make it worthwhile.

With the lawsuit out of the way, Lang will spend the summer touring the U.S. with Lyle Lovett. Fans can also keep an eye out for her version of "Angel Eyes" on an Ella Fitzgerald tribute album that's due on June 5. Lang also covers Joni Mitchell's "Help Me" on Nonesuch's new A Tribute To Joni Mitchell compilation.