We’ve covered the topic of recusal a time or two here on Slabbed and while the first link did not win us any fans in Judge Marty’s courtroom, it still stands today as Slabbed’s single most trafficked post as we scooped the national media yet received nary a hat tip from any of ’em though if memory served Becky Mowbray at the T-P termed the Slabbed Nation “detractors” for expecting an impartial judge in the drill moratorium case. Lest I digress.
In the case at hand the children of the late Kenneth Carroll are involved in a donnybrook of a contested estate case with Carroll’s widow and my professional experience in these matters is that contested estates generally invite fee rape. There are allegations Judge LaDart altered a court transcript and worse folks but the crux of the children’ argument is that LaDart is too close to lawyer Max Nathan to impartially dispense justice. This is not the first time we’ve seen this argument used in the 24th JDC to get a Judge recused as this also happened in the divorce case involving Patrick and Julie Quinn after Patrick Quinn, acting pro se convinced Judge June Darensburg it was best to have Judge Steib step aside due to his close relationship with Julie Quinn’s attorney Wiley Beevers.
We do not have much use for Judge LaDart here on Slabbed and this is no secret so in a twist I’ll present the con arguments to the LaDart recusal motion as filed by Team Nathan for the executrix Isabel Wingerter below the jump. Judge Steve Windhorst is now presiding. ~ sop
Would $250,000 in administrative attorney fees be considered fee rape? I think it would.
Readers should also know that the amended motion to recuse filed by the Carrolls brings up the fact that while Max Nathan and a team of 8 Sessions Fishman attorneys are defending the executrix for mismanagement of the estate, Ross LaDart is hiring Max Nathan on behalf of his court to advise the court in the Moskau succession. If Wingerter is removed from the Carroll succession, Max Nathan will not be able to collect his ridiculous attorney fees. So what is the chance that LaDart will rule against his employee Max Nathan? He shouldn’t have a chance to rule because he shouldn’t be hearing a case in which his employee is a participant. Neither Max Nathan, or Ross LaDart notified the Carrolls attorney Evangeline Vavrick that Nathan was hired by LaDart to advise the court in the Moskau succession. Both had a duty to do so. This action was hidden and should be grounds for removal of LaDart from the case at minimum. Notice that the Opposition Motion for Recusal filed by Sessions Fishman does not mention the Moskau succession. I guess thay don’t realize that the secret is already out.
In any other case where
An executor gives $50,000 to a non legatee
Fails to invest trust money
Co-mingles estate and trust money
Fails to pay multiple mortgage statements resulting in foreclosure proceeding which incur penalties
and interest all payed by the estate
Fails to rent rental property
Fails to collect estate debts
Probates a non will
Charges the estate for the executors defense in a bar complaint
Attempts to collect an insurance policy that the estate has no right to
Files an accounting that clearly does not match bank records or the written words of the executor
And does not defend the estate in legal proceedings brought against it
the executor would have been removed. Instead, the executrix is attempting to collect an executor’s fee of $25,000 for work that she passed on to the attorney’s at Sessions Fishman. Not only that but there is a $38,000 accounting bill resulting from her co-mingling of estate and trust funds. An accountant would not be ordinarily needed. The cancelled checks and bank records are usually adequate, but that was not an option in this case because of co-mingling. With a $38,000 accounting bill, what the hell did Sessions Fishman bill 140 hours for on accounting? Also, its the executor’s job to do an accounting. The fees in this case are duplicitous AND duplicated.
Not to mention that the corrupt sack of shit LaDart told a 19 year old girl that if she had wanted the inheritance she was left by her grandfather she should have hired an attorney, and that she didn’t exist in his courtroom, even though Ken Carroll’s will which had been upheld by the supreme court said otherwise. He said this to cover up the fact that the executor of the estate who is represented by LaDart’s employee Max Nathan, had done nothing to preserve the granddaughters trust. How could she, she was giving it all to Sessions Fishman to defend herself for bungling the administration of the estate. Then the corrupt sack of shit had the nerve to edit the court transcripts to cover up the fact that he made a 19 year old girl leave court crying. He shouldn’t just be removed, he should be prosecuted for altering court transcripts.
Judge Green was one of the worst damn glad he got his stay in the Fed Motel 6 too bad Capella didn’t get his ! If you think probate court is bad failing to protect the disabled and elderly while they are still alive is even worse in JP and this state .
After investigating this case Tom, nothing would surprise me! All these crooks are interested in is helping their friends and fattening their wallets. I could only imagine what they would do to the elderly or disabled. I can picture them laughing all the way to the bank bragging to each other about how much money they had stole…..er…… made. They can’t be very religious! Anyone with an ounce of faith would be afraid of ending up in hell, which is were these crooked judges and criminal fat cats in the parish gov’t belong!
One thing is for certain: the writer of the pleading doesn’t know how to write OR spell.
“Bazaar”??? Does Nathan’s firm hire public education factory graduates OR
Is the use of the word “bazaar” more appropriately some unintended parody of the proceedings?
Of course, the stench of Bodenheimer Buddy Beevers is not far away.
Here’s my problem: why is a judge, who is tasked with interpreting the law, hiring an attorney to advise him on the law? That’s testament to utter incompetence. This is his job. he has a law clerk to do his research and if he wants more info on the law, he can ask the litigants to brief their opposing views of how to interpret the law. Hiring Max as a consultant on succession law (an area of law that is mostly straight forward) boils my hide. It’s outrageous. If the judge can’t determine what the law is, then why is he a judge?
Didn’t LaDart practice law before becoming a judge? As i understand it LaDart is being paid by the taxpayers on one hand, and he is then hiring Max Nathan to actually do the work on the other hand. Sounds almost illegal somehow. Certainly LaDart is throwing billable hours to Max Nathan in a type of judicial referral system. Max Nathan was never elected judge was he? Sounds like LaDart appoints Nathan just to bilk estates out of money. The whole thing makes no sense. I don’t understand how a judge can then hear a case in which Max Nathan represents one of the litigants. As the comment in the Slabbed Windhorst post from last week points out the disclosure rule is mandatory, and LaDart hired Nathan to advise the court in the middle of the Carroll Succession without disclosing it. http://www.slabbed.org/2012/10/25/judge-windhorsts-problem-with-abuse-of-discretion-on-display-in-the-succession-of-kenneth-carroll/ The opposition to the recusal motion posted above states that it is too late to go for a recusal, but didn’t LaDart rule in favor of Younce? He was still removed by the Supreme Court though and the ruling was vacated, so it wasn’t too late in that case. I guess LaDart and Max Nathan hold the position that if they don’t disclose the relationship and they don’t get caught before the ruling it never happened and doesn’t matter. I can’t see how Letten wouldn’t be looking into this, especially if LaDart really did alter the court transcripts.