Dallas Morning News: OSU, Pickens Lose Key Round

March 12, 2012 – The Dallas Morning News reports on a high-profile dispute between firm client Larry Anders and the fundraising arm of Oklahoma State University over the school’s “Gift of a Lifetime” program that involved oilman T. Boone Pickens, among others. The article, titled “U.S. Judge Rules Oklahoma State Officials, Pickens weren’t Tricked into Life Insurance Deal,” reports that U.S. District Judge Jorge Solis rejected all claims by OSU officials and Pickens – siding with firm client Anders.

According to the article, OSU alumni “agreed to allow the university to purchase $10 million life insurance policies on them, policies that reportedly would have raised as much as $350 million in benefits.” The program reportedly ran into trouble, as “OSU had paid $33 million in premiums for two years and was facing a $16 million payment.”

“Cowboy Athletics ran into three problems,” said attorney Bill Brewer, who represented Mr. Anders, the general agent and broker who has been sued by Cowboy Athletics and Pickens. “The bad financial markets caused one of the school’s primary funding sources to dry up. Second, they had not arranged for premium financing because they depended on the funding sources. And, none of the 27 people died.”

Solis also rejected Pickens’ claim that he had been defrauded or misled by the “Gift of a Lifetime” effort, reported The News.

To read more, click here.

The Wall Street Journal: Marriott Loses Trendy Waikiki Hotel

August 29, 2011 — The Wall Street Journal reports that, in a "dramatic move," the owners of the Waikiki Edition in Hawaii installed new management and changed the signs and locks on their property overnight to reflect a new name, the Modern Honolulu. The report states that the "changes were made in spite of a contract that allows Marriott [International Inc.] to run the hotel as an Edition for 30 years." 

William A. Brewer III, counsel for M Waikiki LLC, the hotel owner, told the Journal that his clients have the legal right to terminate the contract, alleging that Marriott is mismanaging the property. 

The Journal reports that, in a legal filing in May in New York Supreme Court, M Waikiki claimed Marriott "had failed to make the flashy new Edition hotel brand a success, resulting in the Waikiki location underperforming relative to its market." The owners said further that occupancy for the fourth quarter of 2010 had been 30% — well below the 62% rate predicted by Marriott. 

To read the full report, click here. 

Reuters: Marriott, Schrager Sued by Hawaii Hotel Owner

May 30, 2011 — Reuters reports that owners of the Waikiki Edition have filed suit against Marriott International Inc. and hotelier Ian Schrager, Marriott's partner in creating the Edition brand. The lawsuit, filed by Bickel & Brewer on behalf of M Waikiki LLC, "seeks to end a 30-year management agreement and recover losses and overruns tied to the 353-room beachside hotel." 

"We believe empty promises were made in connection with the launch of Edition — and the damage done to our clients has been further compounded by Marriott's inability to effectively manage this property," said William A. Brewer III, partner at Bickel & Brewer and lead counsel for M. Waikiki LLC. "Based on the breaches of its contractual obligations to our client, we are seeking to remove Marriott from the management of the Hotel." 

To read the full report, click here. 

The Wall Street Journal: Hawaii Hotel Sues Marriott

May 26, 2011 — The Wall Street Journal reports that the owners of the "stylish but unsuccessful" Waikiki Edition in Honolulu have filed a lawsuit seeking to end their management agreement with Marriott International Inc. In the lawsuit, filed by Bickel & Brewer on behalf of client M Waikiki LLC, the owners claim Marriott has "failed to make a flashy new hotel brand a success." 

The lawsuit also named Ian Schrager, Marriott's partner on the Edition brand, as a defendant in the suit, "alleging that the famed hotelier has been uninvolved in the project."

The report states, "The owners now allege Marriott was responsible for construction overruns, as well as cost overruns after the hotel began operating. The owners say the hotel has lost $6 million since it opened in October 2010, with occupancy just around 30% in the fourth quarter of 2010, far below the 62% occupancy Marriott predicted in August 2009."

To read the full report, click here.

Vanity Fair: Oil in the Family

June 2008 – A profile story in Vanity Fair, “Oil in the Family,” profiles the story of the Hunt dynasty and legal actions dividing the family. The publication writes, “In 1935 oil tycoon H.L. Hunt, known as the richest man in America, created what would become a multi-billion-dollar trust for his descendants. Three generations later, a lawsuit by his free-spending grandson is shaking the foundations of that mighty family fortune.”

 “At stake, according to family documents, is an oil-and-gas fortune worth between $2.5 and $4 billion,” according to the article.”

Bill Brewer, who represents Al Hill III, and his client “both maintain that the exchange of charges and countercharges between the warring camps has obscured the core issue:  the family’s plan to sell Hunt Petroleum and to break no just one but two trusts that own the company, and then to seize the proceeds, much sooner than the family ever would have been able to had the trusts remained intact,” writes author Alan Peppard.

Read the article here (subscription required).

Jury Awards Bali Hotel Operator $10.3 Million Verdict

April 2008 – Hospitality Law reported on the firm’s trial win against the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. on behalf of client Karang Mas Sejahtera (KMS), owner of the Ritz-Carlton Bali Resort & Spa. The jury awarded KMS more than $10 million.

As reported, “KMS filed the lawsuit against Ritz-Carlton three years ago, when the company began developing the Bulgari Bali Hotel. KMS accused the Ritz of violating its fiduciary duties by operating a competing property in disregard to KMS’s territorial rights and alleged that the Ritz failed to recognize its responsibilities as an agent of the Ritz-Carlton Bali.”

A Greenbelt, Maryland jury found the Ritz breached its amended and restated operating agreement and violated its fiduciary duties to KMS, among other things.

“It doesn’t matter what you call a relationship – if someone is managing your business, your assets, for your benefit and being paid handsomely to do that, they owe you a fiduciary duty,” said firm partner William A. Brewer III. “I think it [the jury verdict] reminded everybody that between a principal and an agent, honest and fact are the touchstone of the relationship.”

D Magazine: Hunt vs. Hunt

March 2008 – D Magazine profiles “the fight inside Dallas’ wealthiest family” in a cover article that chronicles the legal pursuit of Brewer client Al Hill III.

The magazine writes, “Without Al Hill III’s transformation, he might not have had the courage later in life to follow his convictions. Even when it meant accusing his own family of tax evasion and fraud.”

Read the article by clicking here.

Dallas Morning News: A Matter of Trust

February 10, 2008 – The Dallas Morning News takes an in-depth look at a family dispute over “two trusts, belonging to Margaret [Hunt Hill] and her late brother Hassie, with an estimated worth of $2 billion to $4 billion.”

As reported, legal actions have “brought the lights up on a sideshow of two so-called magicians – Tom Hunt, the low-key, low-profile trustee of both trusts and Bill Brewer, Al Hill III’s flashy bulldog of a lawyer.”

 As reported, “William A. Brewer III has built his legal reputation with scorched-earth tactics that have made him sought after and scorned by Dallas’ rich and famous.”

Read the article “Hunt heirs locked in bitter fight over who should have hands on funds' fortunes,” by clicking here.