LOS ANGELES - Rap music mogul Marion "Suge" Knight is seeking federal bankruptcy protection for himself and his Death Row Records, his lawyer said Tuesday.

At issue is an unpaid judgment against Knight for $107 million that was awarded to Lydia Harris, a former Knight associate who claimed she helped start the rap record empire with her former husband, Michael Harris.

Laurence Strick, who represents Knight, said his client was attempting to reorganize his financial affairs.

"Mr. Knight doesn't have $107 million," Strick said. "It remains to be seen what becomes of Death Row."

Death Row's stable of artists in the 1990s included popular West Coast stars like Snoop Dogg and 2Pac.

Knight failed to appear at a Superior Court-ordered debtor hearing Saturday, triggering legal actions that a judge had warned would place his Death Row Records in receivership.

Another hearing is set for Tuesday. But filing for federal bankruptcy protection would supersede receivership proceedings, Strick said.

Michael Harris, an imprisoned drug dealer serving a 28-year sentence at San Quentin Prison, is claiming half of the $107 million as community property in his divorce from Lydia Harris.

Michael Harris also claims he put up $1.5 million from behind bars to help start the record label, a contention that Knight has repeatedly denied.

Rex Beaber, an attorney for Lydia Harris, said the bankruptcy move by Knight was not a surprise.

"Bankruptcy is by its nature the last and final stop in these games of delay," Beaber said.

Lawyers suing Knight had planned to ask that he be held in contempt and jailed until he participates in a debtor hearing that requires him to disclose all of his assets.

Knight has failed to attend a number of hearings in the case.

Superior Court Judge Ronald Sohegian issued an order last week appointing a receiver to take over Death Row Records. But he stayed the order pending Knight's appearance at Saturday's hearing.

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