Mark Geragos Must Pay $100,000 to Coach for Helping Avenatti

Celebrity attorney Mark Geragos must pay $100,000, a Los Angeles jury said, to the youth basketball coach whose case was at the heart of Michael Avenatti’s 2020 conviction for trying to extort Nike Inc.

Geragos, who hosted meetings with Nike’s general counsel at his New York office, knowingly helped Avenatti commit wrongdoing against Gary Franklin, but his assistance wasn’t a “substantial factor” causing harm, according to the California Superior Court, Los Angeles County jury’s Wednesday special verdict form.

Geragos wielded his “fantastic relationship” with Nike’s general counsel to be a “front man” carrying out Avenatti’s scheme to rip off ...