Campbell Widow Defends Estate Fees

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

The widow of Glen Campbell says the legal fees incurred in her late husband's estate are justified and necessary to preserve and protect the estate's most valuable assets, Campbell's name, likeness, image and royalties.
In a seven-page filing in Davidson Probate Court, lawyers for Kimberly Campbell charged that the demands of one of the late singer's daughters had prevented the estate from distributing those assets to a family trust.
The filing was in rapid response to a motion by Debby Campbell-Cloyd in which she questioned legal fees totaling $211,533 incurred by the estate with GT Law (Greenberg Traurig). Campbell-Cloyd asked the court for a separate hearing or special review of the legal fees.
In the reply, Carolyn Schott, the attorney representing Kimberly Campbell, said the fees were justified due to the complex nature of the task of valuing and protecting the late singer's assets.
Campbell died in 2017 following a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. The dispute over the legal fees is just the latest in a series of legal battles over the singer's estate. Three other siblings contested the will filed in the case, but eventually withdrew their objections.
In her filing Kimberly Campbell disputed the need for a special hearing on the legal fees and asserted that the judge already had sufficient information to act on the request as part of the regular process.
Citing a relationship between her late husband and the law firm spanning more than 50 years, the filing states that the work of GT Law ensured that a revenue stream to the estate was preserved and continued.
In her filing Debby Campbell-Cloyd cited the fact that one GT Law attorney was being paid fees at the "excessive" rate of $1,050 per hour, but Kimberly Campbell countered that the fees were reasonable considering the firm's familiarity with the estate issues.
"Quite simply, it would take years to replicate GT Law's background and familiarity with the estate's intellectual property assets," the Kimberly Campbell filing concludes.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com

Legal Fees Challenged in Campbell Estate

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Charging that a pending fee request has been edited to conceal details, a daughter of singer Glen Campbell is challenging attorney billing fees of up to $1,050 per hour in her late father's estate.
In a motion filed this week in Davidson Probate Court in Nashville, Debbie Campbell-Cloyd has charged that fee requests of some $300,000 submitted by Campbell's widow Kimberly fails to meet legal requirements. She is asking for a separate hearing on the billings.
The 10-page motion also charges that the estate has failed to pay her $250,000 and to turn over to her concho belts, which were promised to her under the terms of a family trust. Focusing specifcally on fees of $211,533 for the services of the Greenberg Traurig law firm, the motion charges that the billing includes services provided befors Glen Campbell's 2017 death.
Noting that Kimberly Campbell, as the estate's executor, has thus far sought approval for fees totaling $548,921, the motion states that the latest fee request includes $10,657 for services provided between June 8, 2017 and Aug. 8, 2017. Glen Campbell died on Aug. 8, 2017.
As for the $1050 per hour fees for Greenberg Traurig attorney Jay L. Cooper, the motion states the charges are "excessive for this locality."
In addition the motion states that the Greenberg Traurig billing statement was "heavily redacted to conceal information such as the parties with whom Greenberg Traurig attorneys communicated."
Also questioned were fees requested for Stanley Schneider, who was appointed as a temporary administrator of the estate. He already has been paid $42,055 for administrative services and an additionaL $32,262 for tax services.
The filing is but the latest challenge to Campbell's estate. Previously three other children of the singer contested the will filed by Kimberly Campbell. That challenge was eventually dropped.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com

Campbell Estate Fee Hearing Delayed

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

One of Glen Campbell's daughters has been granted additional time to review a request to pay attorneys and other professionals involved in her late father's estate. One of tose attorneys has been charging more than $1,000 an hour.
At the request of Debbie Campbell Cloyd a hearing on the fees has been pushed back from Dec. 4 to Dec. 18.
The fee requests, totaling a little over $300,000 were submitted last month by Kimberly Campbell, who is the executor of her late husband's estate. The singer died in 2017 following a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.
The $1,050 an hour payments would go to Jay L. Cooper, a partner at Greenberg Traurig LLC. According to filings at the Davidson Probate Court in Nashville, Cooper was brought on to deal with "complicated legal issues related to entertainment law and intellectual property law."
Cooper's fees are included in some $221,793.85 billed to the estate by Greenberg Traurig.
Another petition pending before the court seeks payment of $20,107 to a California accounting firm, Gursey Schneider, with longtime ties to the later singer. The firm also worked on issues relating to intellectual property, according to court filings
The Greenberg motion includes billings for Cooper, his son Todd and other Greenberg Traurig lawyers and support staff. Jay Cooper's hourly rate was $980 in 2017 when he first went to work for the estate.
The third fee petition seeks payment of $64,398 to the Sherrard Roe Voigt Harbison law firm for its work on estate matters. Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com

Campbell Estate Seeks Fee Approvals

By Walter F. Roche Jr. Lawyers for the estate of Glen Campbell are seeking court approval for $241,908 in fees and expenses including the services of an attorney charging over $1,000 an hour.
In one of the petitions filed this week in Davidson Probate Court in Nashville, Campbell's widow, Kimberly, is asking for the payment of $221,793.85 in fees and expenses to the politically connected firm of Greenberg Traurig.
A second petition seeks payment of $20,107 to a California accounting firm, Gursey Schneider, with longtime ties to the later singer. The firm also worked on issues relating to intellectual property.
Both fee requests had been initially submitted in late 2019 but were then postponed indefinitely.
The Greenberg Traurig fee request shows Jay L. Cooper of the Greenberg Traurig LLC (GT Law) has been charging $1,050 per hour for services performed for the estate.
Both fee petitions are scheduled for a court hearing on Dec. 4, but only if objections to the fees are registered.
The original filing states that Cooper's skills were needed because the work relating to the estate's interests "involved complicated legal issues related to entertainment law and intellectual property law."
The Greenberg motion includes billings for Cooper, his son Todd and other Greenberg Traurig lawyers and support staff. Jay Cooper's hourly rate was $980 in 2017 when he first was assigned to the case. He has charged $1,050 since 2018. His son's fee was $650 per hour.
The bill covers services provided by the firm from June 8, 2017 through Oct. 23, 2019
Campbell died in 2017 following a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com

Campbell Widow Faced Contempt Charges

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Faced with the threat of a contempt finding, lawyers for the widow of Glen Campbell have filed an annual status report on the estate of the late singer who died in 2017.
The three-page status report was filed today in Davidson Probate Court by Carolyn Schott, the lawyer for Kimberly Campbell.
The filing followed an order issued late last week by Judge David "Randy" Kennedy ordering Kimberly Campbell to appear in his court on July 29 to show cause why she should not be found in contempt of court for failing to file a requested annual status report.
Kimberly Campbell is the executor of her husband's estate, but Kennedy's order warned that she could be ousted for failing to file the status report. In addition she could be assessed court costs, according to the three-page order.
In the report filed today Schott stated that "certain administrative matters related to the assets of the estate are not yet complete."
The report states that the estate is expected to be closed within 12 months after certain administrative costs are paid, state and federal taxes are paid and the assets are distributed.
The action comes just days after the same judge approved a motion relieving Kimberly Campbell of the duty to filed detailed annual acountings for the estate. That motion had been requested by the co-trustees of the Campbell Family Trust.
In yet another development Kelli Glen Campbell, one of the late singer's children, issued a summons to Kimberly. Kelli was one of three of the singer's children to file a legal challenge to the will filed in the case.
The three eventually dropped the challenge, but the subpoena could be an indication the challenge will be renewed. Kelli and two of her siblings, William and Wesley, were specifically barred from any inheritance in the late singer's will.
Campbell died in 2017 following a lengthy battle with Alzheimer's Disease.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com

Campbell Estate Disclosures Waived

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

A Nashville judge has formally approved a request to excuse the executor of the late Glenn Campbell's estate from the requirement to file a detailed annual accounting of all transactions involving estate assets.
The two-page motion approved by Davidson Probate Judge David "Randy" Kennedy had been submitted by the co-trustees of the Campbell Family Trust. It relieves Kimberly Campbell, the singer's widow, who is the executor and personal representative of the estate from the requirement to file a detailed annual report.
Under Kennedy's order she is also relieved of the requirement to make an appearance before the court next month.
The action means that many financial details of the estate will likely remain private. This is in sharp contrast to the very public battle that emerged when Campbell's will was filed. The will specifically bars three of Campbell's children from any estate assets.
The three, Kelli, Travis and Wesley, first challenged the will but then, in the midst of negotiations withdrew the challenge.
Campbell died in 2017 following a lengthy battle with Alzheimer's disease.According to the Davidson County Probate Clerk's office annual accountings must include detailed financial details even including photographs of all canceled checks.
The filings must include detailed financial records and even photocopies of all canceled checks.
Thus far few details of the Campbell estate's holding have been made public.
In one filing estate lawyers disclosed that a California attorney hired to handle "complicated issues relating to entertainment law and intellectual property,"was being paid over $1,050 an hour. The fee filing, however, redacted multiple details of the original billing statements.
Though a hearing had been twice scheduled for approval of those and other legal fees the session was postponed indefinitely