The son of a murder victim may have to go into arbitration
SARASOTA - A judge plans to decide within the next couple of weeks if the family of a woman killed by her ex-husband after appearing with him on the "Jerry Springer Show" must go into arbitration before taking the television talk show to court.
Jeffrey Campbell has filed a lawsuit against the show on behalf of the estate of his mother, Nancy Campbell-Panitz. She was killed just hours after the airing of a Springer episode exposing the violent relationship between her, ex-husband Ralf Panitz and his wife, Eleanor.
Miami attorney Ellis Rubin, who is representing Campbell, and Los Angeles attorney Marty Katz appeared before Circuit Judge Becky Titus on Friday afternoon to argue the motion filed by the show's attorneys.
Katz said that even though Campbell-Panitz died, the agreement she signed before appearing on the show binds her family. That agreement says she would agree to arbitration before filing a lawsuit.
Springer lawsuit