LEGAL FILE : Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation’s press.

Jackson’s Response: An official with Michael Jackson’s production company on Friday disputed claims made by Maureen Doherty, a former vice president and general counsel with MJJ Productions, who sued the entertainer this week for alleged gender discrimination. Bob Jones, vice president of MJJ Productions, said Doherty and Jackson never met in person, and that she “was only let go because her services were no longer needed.” Jones added: “We will vigorously defend ourselves in court.” Meanwhile, Jackson’s spokesman, Lee Solters, said he had “nothing to say until talking to the lawyers.”

Courtroom Briefs: A Los Angeles federal judge has thrown out major portions of opposing lawsuits pitting Roseanne and ex-husband Tom Arnold against a New York firm hired to put out their “plus-size” clothing line. Gone are the fraud claims from both sides, but jurors, who began deliberations Friday, still must decide whether Stanley Warner, CelebSales’ president, breached his contract with the then-Arnolds, or if he was entitled to withhold $750,000 from the duo because they refused to hawk their clothes on cable. . . . Jury selection is set to begin Wednesday in Van Nuys Municipal Court for the trial of actor Alec Baldwin, who faces a battery charge for allegedly punching a photographer as he and his actress wife, Kim Basinger, arrived at their Woodland Hills home with their newborn daughter last October. Baldwin faces up to six months in jail and a $2,000 fine if convicted.