To the Attorney Grievance Committee
of the First Judicial Department of the New York State Supreme Court
My name is Jeffrey Whitty
Broadway, we have a problem. And it isn't your artists.
Introduction
Contractual Fraud
Little did I know that my career's best work was doomed from the start - because of my own agent and law firm.
ONE
Dangerous Conflicts
Ethics go out the window as my law firm moves to represent every side of the HOH deal.
TWO
"This is Gonna Run Forever!"
A hit musical can be worth a billion-plus dollars nowadays. And my lawyer and agent smelled a hit.
THREE
Deliberate Financial Deprivation
A broke artist is an artist who can be controlled. This is the first of many instances when I went unpaid for work that I did.
FOUR
Springing the Trap
In an ugly email chain, my agent begins abusing me openly in front of producers in order to feather his own bed.
FIVE
Why Won't My Lawyer Take My Side?
Alarm bells ring as my lawyer acts less and less as my fiduciary, and more like a self-dealing confidence artist.
SIX
My Law Firm Drops Me
I begin to catch on to the swindle underway, and the predators stop pretending.
SEVEN
Enter Lawyer #2
I get new legal counsel, who hits the ground running as my former law firm goes on the attack to seize ownership of my work.
EIGHT
Who Owns My Property?
Rich predators whom I once trusted continue their ugly game of "keep away" with my art and livelihood.
NINE
"You Don't Want To Find Out What Will Happen If You Speak Out."
Strangers begin to threaten me to keep quiet about the abuse. Meanwhile, my second lawyer goes off the farm.
TEN
Send in the Goons
A threat close to home suggests that I am the target of an "intelligence agency" hired to silence me.
ELEVEN
They Even Snatched My Royalties!
When an artist has no defense from rich grifters, why on earth would they stop stealing?
TWELVE
Broadway Opening / Reviews
I am pilloried for the shoddy work of my greedy colleagues on Broadway.
THIRTEEN
Bit By Bit, Putting Myself (Back) Together
As I hit rock-bottom, karma pulls a switcheroo. But then a new dream job becomes a nightmare, and I make the hard (and only) choice.
