Ansara's big score?
'Tis the season for fee sharing disputes.
Following on the heels of Laura Watson's hybrid Bar/JQC mess, comes a nifty little number involving attorneys Richard Ansara, Steve Hammer, and Mike Jones. At issue is a reputed large settlement stemming from the estate of Fontainebleau hotelier Ben Novack, on behalf of Novack's sometimes homeless son Ronald. The Sun Sentinel has background information on the probate issues in this 2011 article.
Ansara, Hammer, and Jones are now infighting regarding what many believe to be a large fee that was paid to Ansara. The legal issues, of course, will focus on the actual relationship between the lawyers, and whether there was shared representation of Novack. We're being told all the lawyers were involved in the case, were associated, and shared space, but that Ansara did leave at some point with the understanding that the Novack case was still a group effort. As time went on Hammer and Jones reportedly lost contact with the troubled younger Novack, and were surprised to learn much later that the case had settled for an undisclosed sum. According to a source close to the proceedings, Ansara reportedly started spending lots of money, which led to the discovery that the case had been successfully closed.
Michael Bernstein is Ansara's lawyer. He politely no commented earlier today, explaining that both sides of a "private dispute" are represented by counsel in a case that is in the earliest stages. Former ASA Katie Phang is on board for Hammer and Jones, but we missed her call and hadn't made contact as of the time of this post. No lawsuit has been filed at this point in time, and mediation is likely, so stay tuned, just in case this thing takes on a life of its own ...
♪ ♪ Fontainebleau, 'cause it takes a shark ♪ ♪
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IN RE RONALD NOVACK
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