According to Mr. Marks's affidavit, Mr. Grubman had falsely described the resolution of the lawsuit by stating publicly that Mr. Grubman had won a "total victory" over Mr. Joel, that there had been "no settlement" and that Mr. Joel's suit was "frivolous." Mr. Marks asserted that Mr. Grubman had violated the confidentiality agreement in the settlement.

Mr. Grubman's firm currently represents a number of key Sony artists including Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson and Mariah Carey. At the same time, it represents some of the very executives with whom those singers must negotiate their contracts and resolve other issues. Besides Mr. Mottola, who is married to Ms. Carey, Mr. Grubman's firm also represents Columbia Records' president, Donald Ienner. Columbia is a Sony label.

Mr. Joel's lawsuit, filed in September 1992, listed a broad range of charges, including fraud and breach of fiduciary responsibility. According to the suit, Mr. Grubman's firm was hired in 1980 by Mr. Joel's financial manager at the time, Frank Weber. The suit -- which also named Mr. Weber and others -- contended that Mr. Grubman, eager to build a clientele of top artists, curried favor with Mr. Weber with payoffs, kickbacks and other illegal activities at the expense of Mr. Joel. Furthermore, the suit contended that Mr. Grubman, whose firm was simultaneously doing work for CBS Records (now Sony Music), did not fully advise Mr. Joel of his firm's relationship with CBS or get a conflict-of- interest waiver.

During the fall of 1993, Mr. Joel's lawyers settled the suit against Mr. Grubman and Mr. Weber.

According to Mr. Marks's affidavit, the settlement included a check for $2.4 million that was paid by the Sony Corporation of America on Oct. 22, 1993, the same day that the suit was dropped. One of these executives said that normally checks relating to the music business were written by Sony Music, as opposed to the parent company. According to a contract between Sony and Mr. Joel, also dated Oct. 22, the check was to pay for Mr. Joel to do a Japanese endorsement for Sony's minidisk and other Sony products.

On Oct. 22, Mr. Joel's business manager also received an agreement that promised to pay Mr. Joel $600,000 in additional royalty payments for record sales between December 1993 and Dec. 31, 1996. Copies of the $2.4 million check and the two agreements have been obtained by The New York Times.

Several people close to Sony and Mr. Grubman said privately yesterday that they saw nothing wrong with Mr. Schulhof and Sony trying to settle a lawsuit that would keep a major Sony artist like Mr. Joel happy and would ultimately benefit Sony.

Mr. Marks's recent affidavit states that Mr. Grubman did not want any settlement to refer to his own law firm.