Tuesday, May 21, 2013 5:19pm ET by  
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Michael Jackson's family lawyer: 'Wrongful death trial could have been avoided'

It has been revealed that the family of Michael Jackson approached concert promoters AEG Live twice earlier this year in hope of settling the 'wrongful death' trial without the extensive court dates and appearances.

Jackson's family filed a suit against AEG bosses in which they accuse them of ignoring the fact that the King of Pop was seriously ill during his rehearsals for the proposed 'This Is It' 50-date tour and it is now in its fourth week.

Katherine Jackson's lawyer, Kevin Boyle, told the jury that the 'Thriller' superstar's relatives tried to settle the case on a more low-key level in both January and March of this year, but their requests were ignored.

Marvin Putnam, an attorney for AEG, hit back at the claims and said: "We don't settle matters that are utterly baseless. We believe that is the case in this matter. I can't see why we would consider a settlement as anything other than a shakedown."

Meanwhile, associate producer Alif Sankey took the stand recently and explained that he "had a very strong feeling that Michael was dying".

 

 

 

 

Watch footage of Jackson's final 'This Is It' rehearsals below: