Sausalito, CA—Come dinner time aboard his yacht Adequate Award, and Melvin Belli really knows how to put on the dog. Tonight, his dining-room table is set with bone china and sterling silver, and browsing among the tableware is one hungry Italian greyhound. I know the animal is hungry because he has walked across the table and taken a bite of my bread plate. . .There are those who would have you believe that Mr. Belli, the King of Torts, has become so eccentric that more than dinner is becoming chaotic. . .Since summer, the 81-year-old lawyer has been barred by court order from his 25-room San Francisco mansion. His wife got the order after filing a petition for legal separation. She complained at the time to reporters and police that Mr. Belli physically and verbally abused her and their teenage daughter. Even more bizarre, she claims that he falsely accused her of having sex with a number of family friends, including celebrities of both sexes. . .Another shot fired across the bow: In a lawsuit pending in Tax Court, the Internal Revenue Service contends that Mr. Belli, in effect, back-dated documents to avoid paying gift taxes in a transaction involving his San Francisco law-office building. . .His firm, Law Offices of Melvin Belli, Sr., is on trial, too, these days. Three years ago, Mr. Belli lost a malpractice case resulting in a $3.8 million judgement against him. Since then, six more malpractice suits have been filed against him in San Francisco Superior Court. . .
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