© 2018 The Texas Lawbook.
By Natalie Posgate
(March 28) – A Dallas probate judge on Wednesday ordered JPMorgan Chase Bank to pay $5.5 million in attorneys’ fees to the widow of an American Airlines executive for an $8 billion jury verdict she and her stepchildren won against the bank last fall.
The ruling may be the largest attorneys’ fee award in probate court, according to Alan Loewinsohn, who represents the widow, Jo Hopper. Loewinsohn said it was certainly the largest such award of his career.
Probate Judge Brenda Hull Thompson rendered the award nearly three months after hearing a full day of arguments from Loewinsohn, JPMorgan’s lawyers, and the stepchildren’s lawyers on how much in attorneys’ fees should be awarded to Mrs. Hopper and who should be responsible for paying them. The attorneys left Judge Thompson with thick, heavy binders, lengthy PowerPoint presentations and a long list of caselaw supporting each sides’ arguments to consider when making her decision.
“Mrs. Hopper is gratified that Judge Thompson carefully considered the issues and after extensive argument and briefing affirmed the jury’s findings as to the reasonableness of the attorneys’ fees incurred by Mrs. Hopper, and concluded that it was just and equitable for JPMorgan to have to pay those fees due to their conduct,” Loewinsohn told The Texas Lawbook.
The Texas Lawbook is currently awaiting comments from a spokesman for JPMorgan and Fee Smith attorney Lenny Vitullo, who represents the stepchildren, Stephen Hopper and Laura Wassmer.
In September, a six-person jury found that JPMorgan negligently, fraudulently and maliciously mishandled its fiduciary duty as the independent administrator of the estate of Max Hopper, a longtime American Airlines executive who pioneered the airline’s SABRE reservation system. The family hired JPMorgan as the estate’s administrator after Mr. Hopper unexpectedly died of a stroke intestate in early 2010. The Hopper estate was worth $19 million in assets and community property at the time of Mr. Hopper’s death.
The legal battle is far from over, however. Due to the size of the verdict, JPMorgan has expressed its commitment to fight it.
The battle for the family to preserve the historical verdict will truly ramp up at a two-day final judgment hearing scheduled next week. (Spoiler alert: JPMorgan’s lawyer, Van Beckwith, wants the whole verdict tossed out; Vitullo and Loewinsohn don’t.)
Now that the court has entered judgment on the attorneys’ fees, Loewinsohn said he plans to file his motion for final judgment entry on Thursday.
The Texas Lawbook was in the courtroom for the attorneys’ fees battle in January. To learn more about the issues surrounding that hearing, click here.
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