Marvin Mitchelson

Marvin M. Mitchelson (May 7, 1928 in Detroit, Michigan – September 18, 2004 in Beverly Hills, California) was an American celebrity lawyer who pioneered the concept of palimony, calling it "marriage with no rings attached."

Mitchelson was the youngest child of three and only son of poor Russian immigrants. The family relocated from Detroit to Los Angeles when Marvin was in high school, after graduation he then served a term in the United States Navy. After leaving the service he entered UCLA where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. He obtained a Juris Doctor degree from Southwestern University School of Law, and was admitted to the California Bar on 4 June 1957, having passed the bar exam on his second try. He set up a private legal practice in Los Angeles at that time.

In 1963 Mitchelson won a landmark United States Supreme Court decision, Douglas v. California, protecting indigent defendants' right to legal counsel.

He gained national publicity when he was hired by Michelle Triola, a lounge singer who lived with actor Lee Marvin as his personal partner from 1964 until 1970, when Marvin told her to move out because he wanted to marry another woman. Mitchelson helped Triola — who claimed that she was entitled to the same benefits as a divorcée, which meant half of Marvin's then-$3.6 million fortune — win her right to bring suit. Although Triola was awarded $104,000 for "rehabilitation" in 1978 (the ruling was overturned in 1981; Marvin never paid Triola any money), Marvin v. Marvin (Triola assumed Marvin's name during the relationship) set a precedent.

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