Egan & Golden, LLP firm partners Brian T. Egan, Karen Golden and associate Justine Tocci succeeded in convincing the Appellate Division, Second Departmnet to reinstate a $20 million malpractice and fraud suit brought by a grandson of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst against the grandson's wife and the couple's lawyer.
After he suffered a debilitating stroke in 1989 at age 55, John Randolph Hearst Jr. contends, his wife, Barbara, with the help of the couple's lawyer, transferred $20 million worth of property and investments into her own name. The suit also named a trustee as a defendant.
The trial court had converted the defendants' motion to dismiss to a motion for summary judgment, which he granted. However, the lawsuit was reinstated last week by the Appellate Division. In its decision, the court found that the trial judge had misunderstood the burden of proof for undue influence claims, and that Hearst had established a prima facie case against the defendants.
A link to the coverge by the New York Law Journal is here.
