Anna Nicole Smith's Daughter Loses Fight for Marshall Millions

A federal judge has ended what may be the last chance for Dannielynn Birkhead — better known as the daughter of Anna Nicole Smith — to collect tens of millions of dollars from the estate of E. Pierce Marshall, the son of Anna Nicole’s billionaire husband, J. Howard Marshall II.

In an order expressing regret over the outcome, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter dismissed as moot the attempt by Birkhead’s lawyers to win sanctions from the Marshall family over tactics the deceased heir and his lawyers employed in the long-running battle over the Marshall fortune. Carter last year indicated he might award more than $40 million in sanctions for behavior he described as “too pervasive and too egregious to be ignored.”

Carter noted he was “one of the few remaining observers still alive” after nearly 20 years of litigation, which included a precedent-setting ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, and he said the record shows Marshall and his lawyers had “a distinct disinterest in rules or ethics.” But Birkhead’s lawyers failed to provide sufficient evidence of actual damages for him to award sanctions, the judge said.

The Court is not immune to the equitable pleas from Vickie Lynn’s estate. It is tempting to invoke the broad doctrines of discretion, equity, and inherent powers to follow the pull of one’s heart and one’s conscience. But the powers granted to the federal courts are not all encompassing… The Court also must consider the very real concerns attendant in sanctioning Pierce Marshall, who is deceased and therefore cannot be present, cannot attend the hearing, and cannot answer for himself the allegations against him.

The decision appears to ends a case which, aside from its celebrity quotient, triggered important changes in bankruptcy law.

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Anna Nicole Smith's Daughter Loses Fight for Marshall Millions

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