Billionaire Ron Perelman’s $2M fine for ‘frivolous’ estate suit tossed
A New Jersey appeals court on Thursday ruled that the Revlon chairman Ron Perelman’s initial challenge to his former father-in-law’s estate plan was “frivolous,” but a $2 million fine against him for bringing it was too harsh.
By Barbara Ross / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Thursday, October 3, 2013, 4:55 PM
Updated: Thursday, October 3, 2013, 5:09 PM
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Ron Perelman, chairman of MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc., left, and his daughter Samantha Perelman, a student at Columbia Business School.
You win some, you lose some — and if you’re billionaire Ron Perelman, you can do both at the same time.
A New Jersey appeals court on Thursday ruled that the Revlon chairman’s initial challenge to his former father-in-law’s estate plan was “frivolous,” but a $2 million fine against his lawyers for bringing it was too harsh.
The Appellate Division ruling stems from a 2008 battle between Perelman and his former in-laws, the Cohens.
RELATED: ROBERT COHEN SUFFERED MEDICINE SIDE EFFECTS WHEN HE SIGNED WILL: DOCTOR
Ron Perelman charged that newsstand mogul Robert Cohen had reneged on a promise to give his daughter Claudia — Perelman’s ex — an equal share of his estate.
Claudia Cohen died in 2007, and the biggest beneficiary of her estate was her and Perelman’s daughter, Samantha.
The Appellate Division decision has no direct impact on an ongoing trial where Samantha is challenging her grandfather's will on the grounds that he was unduly influenced by her uncle, James Cohen, for years before he died in 2012, but it stems from the same bad blood between the two families.
RELATED: LATE MAGNATE'S HAND HAD TO BE GUIDED AS HE SIGNED WILL: WITNESS
Robert Cohen was an Engelwood businessman who built his family's firm, Hudson News Company, into a newsstand empire visible in airports and train stations across the U.S. A substantial part of Hudson sold for more than $800 million in 2008.
Perelman, acting as the executor of Claudia's estate, contended in his lawsuit that his former father in law lacked the mental capacity to amend his wills and conduct his business because he suffered from a rare form of Parkinson's Disease that took his ability to walk and talk.
In August, 2009, Superior Court Judge Ellen Koblitz rejected almost all of Perelman's claims, found the elder Cohen competent and slammed Perelman's law firms with a record breaking $2 million fine for pursuing "frivolous" claims.
RELATED: PERELMAN KIN AT WAR FOR MORE IN DAUGHTER’S $800M CASE
Thursday, the Appellate judges agreed that part of Perelman's case was frivolous because Robert Cohen's early wills were clear that he never intended to split his estate evenly among his children.
The judges upheld Koblitz' decision to sanction Perelman's lawyers, but they rejected some of Koblitz' reasons for imposing the sanctions and ordered her to reconsider the final figure without taking those reasons into account.
Koblitz said, for example, that Perelman's lawyers conducted a "harsh and painful" cross examination of the elder, wheelchair bound Cohen. The Appellate judges noted that Koblitz was present during Cohen's deposition and could have stopped the alleged abuse but did not.
In her decision, Koblitz sidestepped one issue -- whether James Cohen exerted undue influence over his father when the elder Cohen changed his wills multiple times after Claudia died.
That's why there is a separate trial now underway in Hackensack Superior Court, where Samantha is claiming her uncle pressured her ailing grandfather to sharply trim how much she would inherit under his will and made sure there was little cash to inherit by the way he managed Hudson News after her mother died.
A spokeswoman for Perelman, Christine Taylor shrugged off the appeals court ruling, and said the “real relevance” of the earlier case “is the ruling that a judge would decide whether James Cohen unduly influenced his father Robert in a rewriting his Wills in a way that passed hundreds of millions of dollars to James.”
A New Jersey appeals court on Thursday ruled that the Revlon chairman’s initial challenge to his former father-in-law’s estate plan was “frivolous,” but a $2 million fine against his lawyers for bringing it was too harsh.
The Appellate Division ruling stems from a 2008 battle between Perelman and his former in-laws, the Cohens.
RELATED: ROBERT COHEN SUFFERED MEDICINE SIDE EFFECTS WHEN HE SIGNED WILL: DOCTOR
Ron Perelman charged that newsstand mogul Robert Cohen had reneged on a promise to give his daughter Claudia — Perelman’s ex — an equal share of his estate.
Claudia Cohen died in 2007, and the biggest beneficiary of her estate was her and Perelman’s daughter, Samantha.
Elizabeth Lara/AP
James Cohen confers with one of his attorneys Tuesday morning Sept. 24, 2013 in Superior Court in Hackensack.
RELATED: LATE MAGNATE'S HAND HAD TO BE GUIDED AS HE SIGNED WILL: WITNESS
Robert Cohen was an Engelwood businessman who built his family's firm, Hudson News Company, into a newsstand empire visible in airports and train stations across the U.S. A substantial part of Hudson sold for more than $800 million in 2008.
Perelman, acting as the executor of Claudia's estate, contended in his lawsuit that his former father in law lacked the mental capacity to amend his wills and conduct his business because he suffered from a rare form of Parkinson's Disease that took his ability to walk and talk.
In August, 2009, Superior Court Judge Ellen Koblitz rejected almost all of Perelman's claims, found the elder Cohen competent and slammed Perelman's law firms with a record breaking $2 million fine for pursuing "frivolous" claims.
RELATED: PERELMAN KIN AT WAR FOR MORE IN DAUGHTER’S $800M CASE
Elizabeth Lara/AP
Samantha Perelman listens to witness testimony in superior court in Hackensack, NJ in a lawsuit against the Cohen family.
The judges upheld Koblitz' decision to sanction Perelman's lawyers, but they rejected some of Koblitz' reasons for imposing the sanctions and ordered her to reconsider the final figure without taking those reasons into account.
Koblitz said, for example, that Perelman's lawyers conducted a "harsh and painful" cross examination of the elder, wheelchair bound Cohen. The Appellate judges noted that Koblitz was present during Cohen's deposition and could have stopped the alleged abuse but did not.
In her decision, Koblitz sidestepped one issue -- whether James Cohen exerted undue influence over his father when the elder Cohen changed his wills multiple times after Claudia died.
That's why there is a separate trial now underway in Hackensack Superior Court, where Samantha is claiming her uncle pressured her ailing grandfather to sharply trim how much she would inherit under his will and made sure there was little cash to inherit by the way he managed Hudson News after her mother died.
A spokeswoman for Perelman, Christine Taylor shrugged off the appeals court ruling, and said the “real relevance” of the earlier case “is the ruling that a judge would decide whether James Cohen unduly influenced his father Robert in a rewriting his Wills in a way that passed hundreds of millions of dollars to James.”
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/billionaire-ron-perelman-2m-fine-frivolous-estate-suit-tossed-article-1.1475623#ixzz2hbZl4100
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