Broward Firm Sues Singer David Cassidy's Estate Over Unpaid Legal Fees
"The law firm that he hired to defend him for not paying our bill, he ended up not paying them either," attorney Brian Rodier said.
January 16, 2018 at 01:57 PM
3 minute read
A Fort Lauderdale law firm that once defended former singer, actor and television star David Cassidy against allegations of unpaid legal fees has filed its own claim against the one-time teen heartthrob's estate.
Saavedra Goodwin was Cassidy's counsel in a 2013 lawsuit by Hallandale-based Rodier & Rodier P.A., which claimed Cassidy “refused to pay” a balance of more than $109,221.
But now, Saavedra Goodwin is claiming the star owed more than $19,000 for its work on that case. The Blast, which reports on celebrity news, broke the story about the second law firm claim.
Cassidy, who died Nov. 21 from organ failure, was the star of the 1970s hit television series, “The Partridge Family.” Court records suggest financial struggles that led to the $1.85 million sale of his waterfront Fort Lauderdale estate at auction in 2015 as part of a bankruptcy case.
The court dismissed the bankruptcy, but did not discharge the law firm debt, leaving the claims in play. Now, the star's financial troubles will survive his death, as both law firms filed notifications to the probate court, signalling their intention to initiate claims against his estate.
On Wednesday Rodier & Rodier will seek to substitute Cassidy's estate as the defendant in its ongoing lawsuit against him.
“What's interesting is that when I filed my lawsuit for not paying his legal bills, (Cassidy) hired the other law firm—(which is) making a claim against the estate now because he didn't pay them either,” Rodier & Rodier partner Brian Rodier said. “So the law firm that he hired to defend him for not paying our bill, he ended up not paying them either. That tells you everything you need to know about this case.”
Court documents show Rodier & Rodier handled Cassidy's defense in a suit by plaintiff Edward Lipton, who alleged material misrepresentation, breach of oral contract, unfair and deceptive trade practices and breach of fiduciary duty. The firm claimed Cassidy paid $25,000 on a bill of about $134,000. By the time the Rodier & Rodier filed its amended complaint in April 2013, prejudgment interest stood at about $5,430—a figure that would have mounted in the last four years.
Cassidy engaged the Saavedra firm to file an answer with five affirmative defenses and a separate motion to dismiss the Rodier & Rodier suit for failure to state a cause of action. Among other defenses, he argued Rodier & Rodier had missed the deadline to sue under Florida's statute of limitations.
“We are fighting that lawsuit,” Jordan I. Wagner, the Fort Lauderdale attorney representing Cassidy's estate, said Tuesday.
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