A long-running family dispute over The Palm Restaurant chain reached a settlement expected to total $12 million to $18 million this week, signaling an end to years of litigation in New York between the two families whose Italian immigrant ancestors founded the first Palm on Manhattan's Second Avenue in 1926.

The bulk of the settlement is slated to go to Gary Ganzi and Claire Ganzi Breen, who sued the Palm's majority shareholders, Walter Ganzi Jr. and Bruce Bozzi Sr., in 2012. The court approval process for the settlement is set to begin Monday, with the entire process projected to finish in the fourth quarter of 2020, the plaintiffs' attorney, Fred Newman of Hoguet Newman Regal & Kenney, said Friday.

Bankruptcy proceedings for Bozzi, Walter Ganzi Jr., and two holding companies associated with the Palm are ongoing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida. A spokeswoman for Kasowitz Benson Torres, which has represented the defendants in their New York case, did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

Newman described the outcome as bittersweet for his clients, who are cousins with defendant Walter Ganzi Jr. Bozzi is a descendant of the other founder of the Palm.

"We are happy that the eight years of litigation is finally over and that they will receive a fair payment, but our clients are unhappy that the family has now lost its inheritance," Newman said, referring to the Palm and its long history.

The Palm chain and its intellectual property were sold in a $45 million deal to the Houston-based company Landry's in March, just days before restaurants across the United States shut down due to the pandemic. The timing was fortunate for the plaintiffs, Newman said.

"Landry's is a fabulous organization and when the pandemic is over, I have no doubt they will resurrect the Palm restaurant and return it to its prior glory," he said.

In November 2018, New York County Supreme Court Commercial Division Justice Andrea Masley awarded more than $120 million to the plaintiffs in the intellectual property case. A year later, she ordered Bozzi and Walter Ganzi Jr. to pay $4.5 million in legal fees to Hoguet Newman.

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