By Alice Barrett
A judge on Thursday appointed an attorney to represent the interests of Peter Angelos, who is incapacitated by illness as his family fights for control of his assets, including his legendary law firm and the Baltimore Orioles.
Baltimore County Circuit Judge Keith R. Truffer also tried to sidestep a threat from Wells Fargo to freeze the accounts of the Angelos Law Firm over the family dispute over ownership and management of the law firm known for acting on behalf of asbestos and Tobacco attracts billions of dollars from victims.
But the judge postponed until another day a decision on other requests from the feuding family's lawyers, including whether the law firm should be placed under a temporary conservatorship.
Truffer appointed Benjamin Rosenberg, founder and chairman of Rosenberg Martin Greenberg in Baltimore, to represent Angelos in the lawsuit pitting his wife Georgia and older son John, the Orioles chairman and CEO, against younger son Louis.
Georgia Angelos arrives in Baltimore County Circuit Court on Thursday for a hearing alongside attorney Steve Silverman over who should control the assets of her incapacitated husband, Orioles owner Peter Angelos.
Georgia Angelos, 80, waited in a courthouse hallway, expecting to be called to testify at the hearing, but Truffer concluded it was unnecessary. Louis Angelos, 53, who ran his father's law firm, sat in the courtroom with his lawyers. John Angelos, 55, was not seen in the courtroom.
For all of Peter Angelos' prominence in legal, political, philanthropic and sporting circles, he and his family have largely avoided the spotlight in which they now find themselves.
“This family has always been a very private family,” Jeffrey E. Nusinov, representing Louis Angelos, noted at one point during the hearing.
At issue was the fate of the Angelos Law Firm, with the dispute raising concerns at Wells Fargo, its longtime banker, about who was responsible and authorized to access funds in the firm's 11 bank accounts.
Peter Angelos, who began practicing law in the 1960s, was the firm's sole partner and shareholder for a long time. In June, Louis Angelos transferred the company to himself and signed both sides of the transaction. He argued that because of his father's disability, state law required ownership of the practice to be transferred to a qualified person, namely him since he was the only attorney in Peter Angelos' immediate family.
However, Georgia Angelos' lawyers called the transaction self-dealing and theft and filed a lawsuit against Louis Angelos in August, alleging his father's “financial elder abuse.”
Their lawyers argued that Louis Angelos did not have the authority to transfer the law firm, even though he ran it in his father's absence.
“It's like Lamar Jackson having a great game,” said Doug Gansler, one of Georgia Angelos' attorneys, before introducing himself to the Ravens' quarterback, who then said, “I'm going to sell the team to myself now.”
“That’s not how it works,” said Gansler, a former attorney general and two-time Democratic gubernatorial candidate.
Gansler asked Truffer to place the company under conservatorship until its ownership is clarified. He noted that despite Peter Angelos' incompetence, checks with his stamp were still being signed, even one last month for $500,000.
Nusinov argued that there was no need for a conservator because Louis Angelos had run the company for the past four years since his father's illness. The matter was “cobbled together,” he said, by the other side using the law firm as leverage in the litigation.
Louis Angelos arrives in Baltimore County Circuit Court on Thursday for a hearing about who should control the assets of his incapacitated father, Orioles owner Peter Angelos. Louis Angelos sued his mother, Georgia Angelos, and his brother, John Angelos, in June.
Georgia Angelos' lawyers had written to Wells Fargo to inform them of the law firm dispute and to say that she was her husband's actual agent and the only one authorized to act on his behalf.
Mary Zinsner, who represents Wells Fargo, told Truffer that the bank was neutral in the family dispute but needed clarity about who bore responsibility.
“We need to know who to turn to,” Zinsner said, especially in the event of a problem with a particular check or account.
Truffer agreed to name three people suggested by Louis Angelos who would have the authority to sign checks on the law firm's bank accounts. The signatories were not named in court after Zinsner said their release would raise security concerns.
It is unknown if Louis Angelos was one of the three. His mother's lawyers argue that he has a conflict of interest because of his lawsuit against his family members.
Louis Angelos sued his mother and brother a day after transferring the law firm to himself, saying John Angelos was trying to consolidate control of the Orioles and his father's other assets. He wants to remove her as trustee from his father's trust, into which Peter Angelos' share of the Orioles has been transferred.
The lawsuit revealed that Georgia Angelos has been preparing for a future sale of the team and that she wants to close or sell her husband's law firm.
When Truffer appointed Rosenberg to represent Angelos, he acknowledged the central — if quiet — role the incapacitated team owner and attorney played in the family dispute.
According to his firm's website, Rosenberg is a longtime litigator who has served on several judicial commissions. There he points out that he previously served as co-chair of the Legal Aid Bureau of Maryland's Equal Justice Council and “has played a small role in ensuring that the phrase 'equal justice for all' is not an empty slogan.”
The judge also agreed to seal certain files containing confidential financial information and details about Peter Angelos' medical condition.
Truffer will hold another hearing on November 9 to consider a number of issues, including Georgia Angelos' motion to invalidate Louis Angelos' sale of the law firm to himself.
A trial is scheduled for July, but attorneys for the feuding family members have agreed to try mediation.
“Maybe I'm hopelessly optimistic,” Gansler told the judge, “but I think we can get there.”
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Judge Appoints Lawyer to Represent Orioles Owner Peter Angelos' Interests; Georgia, Louis Angelos appear in court – Baltimore Sun
