From the wrongful death suits stemming from a fatal concert stampede to a $759 claim filed by a Manhattan limo company claiming Combs didn't pay his bill, he seems to have as many legal wranglings as hit records.

"People make false accusations against me all the time, and also I'm the target for lawsuits all the time," he told a grand jury in January 2000.

The Dec. 17, 1999, shooting outside of Club New York resulted in a spate of multimillion-dollar civil suits to add to the already sizable pile of torts against him.

Shooting for Dollars

Wardel Fenderson, the driver who says Combs tried to bribe him into taking a gun possession rap, filed a $3 million suit against Combs. Fenderson claims he suffered "personal injuries" and "intentional infliction of emotional distress" as he was behind the wheel of Combs' Lincoln Navigator speeding away from the scene of the shooting.

Fenderson, who is expected to testify at the criminal trial, admits in court documents that he picked up Combs, Jennifer Lopez, and Combs' co-defendant and bodyguard Anthony "Wolf" Jones outside the club. He claims that Jones ordered him not to stop the car for any reason. Police chased the vehicle through red lights for 11 blocks before forcing the car to stop, prosecutors say.

While Fenderson says Combs unsucessfully tried to bribe him with $50,000 to tell cops the gun found in the car was his, the driver says the weapon belonged to Jones, not Combs.

Club New York owner Michael Bergos filed a $1.8 million suit in October, alleging that his business suffered as a result of the negative publicity following the shooting.

"The target of a multitude of lawsuits, we find ourselves besieged with insurance and legal complications," Bergos told MTV. "We have also become the focus of excessive negative attention from various government agencies."

Also seeking compensation from Combs — $100 million, in fact — is Julius Jones, the club bouncer who was one of three gunshot victims. Jones suffered a gunshot wound to his shoulder the night of the incident.

Another gunshot victim, Robert Thompson, also shot in the shoulder, filed a $50 million suit against Combs, Barrow, Club New York and the club's security company.

In the wake of the most recent lawsuits, publicists for Combs issued a statement charging that "many people are looking to unjustly capitalize on Mr. Combs' wealth and celebrity status in an attempt to falsely link him to an incident that everyone knows Mr. Combs had nothing to do with."

Deadly Concert

Less than a year before the shooting, a Court of Claims judge in New York found Combs and fellow rapper Heavy D partially liable for a stampede at a 1991 rap concert that left nine people dead and 29 injured.

The concert, which took place inside the City College of New York following an AIDS charity basketball game, was promoted by Combs. The concert was oversold, so some fans without tickets to break through glass doors to get in, prompting a stampede.

The Jan. 11, 1999, ruling by Judge Louis Benza also found that the state of New York shares resposiblity, but the decision left Combs exposed to lawsuits. In his ruling, Benza said that Combs, who was in charge of hiring security for the event, mishandled the situation.

"Had adequate security been provided and had proper crowd-control procedures been followed, the breaking of doors and the stampede could have been prevented," the ruling stated.

By the time the decision was issued, Combs had already settled eight of nine wrongful death suits brought against him.

"There is not a day that passes that I do not regret the fact that I was a promoter of this tragic event at City College. I have lived with the horror of that night for the last seven years. But my pain is nothing compared to what the victims' families have had to face," Combs said in a written statement following the ruling.

Though he wasn't named as a defendant in the case against the city and state, Combs voluntarily settled with the families of the deceased. Published reports estimated the total amount he spent on the wrongful death settlements at $750,000.

Rapped with a Lawsuit

Carelton Ridenhour, better known as rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy, filed a federal suit for more than $1 million against Combs and the estate of slain rapper Notorious B.I.G., a.k.a. Christopher Wallace. In the suit, Chuck D alleges defamation by Combs and B.I.G., charging that the duo mixed part of a Public Enemy song into a song about selling cocaine.

Another sound sample used in one of Combs' songs also landed his name in a $200 million lawsuit. Danyella "Sunshine" Rogers claims that a provocative phone call between her and rapper James "Lil' Cease" Lloyd was recorded without her knowledge and later used in a song that Combs produced.

In another music-related bout, music publisher Albert E. Brumley and Sons filed a federal suit against Combs for incorporating a line from the gospel song "I'll Fly Away" into the multiplatinum hit "I'll Be Missing You," a tribute to B.I.G. That case was resolved in an out-of-court settlement.

Odds and Ends

If $200 million suits are at one end of the spectrum, on the other end are a handful of small claims filed against Bad Boy Entertainment, Combs' company.

Airborne Express sued the company for less than $13,000 over an unpaid bill, while one limousine firm filed a suit for $11,579 and another claimed Puffy reneged on $759.