Melissa Rivers has hired big NYC-based law firm Gair, Gair, Conason, Steigman, Mackauf, Bloom & Rubinowitz to look into the circumstances surrounding her late mother Joan Rivers' death, the firm confirmed to Us Weekly on Tuesday, Oct. 28.
"In order to fully determine the facts and circumstances surrounding the death of Joan Rivers, we confirm that our firm has been engaged by Melissa Rivers and her family," Ben Rubinowitz, managing partner at Gair, Gair, Conason, told Us.
Melissa's legal consultation comes in the wake of Joan's death, following a reportedly botched procedure at the Yorkville Endoscopy clinic this past August. According to multiple outlets, Melissa is expected to soon file a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the Yorkville Endoscopy clinic on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
Sources told Page Six on Tuesday that the doctors who were involved in Joan's throat procedure will also be named in the suit. According to the New York Daily News, Melissa could file as soon as Wednesday, Oct. 29.
Joan Rivers visited the clinic on Aug. 28 for a routine diagnostic procedure to determine why her voice had gotten raspy. Rivers agreed to an endoscopy, but not an unplanned throat biopsy, during which she stopped breathing.
The legendary comic's cause of death was released on Oct. 16, and revealed that Rivers' death was the result of low blood oxygen to the brain during the endoscopy. "The manner of death is therapeutic complication," the New York City Medical Examiner's Office concluded in its statement. "The classification of a death as a therapeutic complication means that the death resulted from a predictable complication of medical therapy."
Melissa tweeted a response to the findings that same day, writing: "In response to NYC's Medical Examiner's report, we continue to be saddened by our tragic loss. No further comment at this time."
Us exclusively reported last Wednesday, Oct. 22, that Melissa has inherited the bulk of her late mother's estate ($75 million in cash and Joan's $35 million condo on NYC's Upper East Side). Her son, Cooper, 13, has also received an unknown inheritance from his late grandmother.
Still, a source told Us that closure was a long way off for Melissa. "It's no consolation for losing her mother so soon," the insider said.
