Brown grandson fires lawyers in trust lawsuit

Brown grandson fires lawyers in trust lawsuit

by Sue Summer

For The Observer The Newberry Observer

In a surprise move only days before a Dec. 15 federal court hearing on the 2000 Irrevocable Trust of music icon James Brown, his grandson Forlando Brown has fired his entire legal team.

Among those sacked by Forlando are former S.C. Chief Justice Ernest Finney whose wife Frances (Davenport) is from Newberry; the law firm of Finney’s son, Jerry Leo Finney; several members of the 1,200-lawyer Atlanta firm, Bryan Cave LLP — formerly Powell Goldstein; and Augusta lawyer David Bell.

Last week, Bryan Cave, the Finneys and Bell filed a motion before Federal Judge William Bertelsman to withdraw as counsel in a lawsuit they filed for Forlando in January 2008 when he was a 21-year-old student. The suit has languished since then but Bell has actively represented Forlando Brown in other matters in Aiken County — always in support of his grandfather’s estate plan which leaves his entire music empire to provide scholarships for designated grandchildren and for needy students attending schools in South Carolina and Georgia.

In 2008, Forlando Brown sought to enjoin Newberry resident Adele Pope and Aiken attorney Robert Buchanan from acting as Brown trustees, alleging they were illegally appointed Nov. 20, 2007, and would not protect Brown’s estate plan from disinherited relatives.

In the complaint, Forlando Brown stated he was close to his grandfather especially during the last seven years of Brown’s life. He said Brown “recognized the value of education and wished he had been able to obtain more of an education during his life.” He said Brown’s Irrevocable Trust, which leaves his music empire to education, reflects his grandfather’s wishes to provide those in need with the opportunity for an education.

Forlando Brown’s complaint against Pope and Buchanan asserted the Irrevocable Trust was “believed to have a value in excess of tens of millions of dollars or more.” The complaint expressed concern that Brown’s “In Terrorem” clause would not be used to enforce his wishes.

A month after Forlando Brown filed the lawsuit in January 2008, he and former South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster made a joint appearance on WIS-TV asserting Buchanan and Pope were not working for the poor children Brown intended to benefit. Six months later, however, McMaster entered into a settlement that dismantled Brown’s Irrevocable Trust, taking more than half of what Brown gave for scholarships to the needy and giving it to disinherited, claimed relatives

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