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Tobacco Litigator's Widow Wins Partial Victory 

An appellate court has handed a partial victory to the widow of prominent Palm Beach, Fla., litigator Robert Montgomery in a dispute with her late husband's former law partner, reversing a trial court order that would have required Montgomery's estate to pay more than $100,000.

The 4th District Court of Appeal reversed a trial court order against the estate that required it to pay around $100,000 in attorney fees to former partner Christopher Larmoyeux of West Palm Beach. The appellate court found that Larmoyeux filed his claims too late and ruled they were time-barred.

But the 4th DCA affirmed an order requiring the estate to pay more than $80,000 in attorney fees to North Palm Beach attorney Eric Hewko, whom Larmoyeux brought in as co-counsel in a case originating in Montgomery's firm that Larmoyeux handled afterward. The 4th DCA also found there was no credibility to fraud claims in a suit filed by Montgomery and his counsel against Hewko. The trial court had ordered both Montgomery and the West Palm Beach law firm of Beasley Hauser Kramer Leonard & Galardi to pay fees to Hewko and Larmoyeux.

"The trial court's finding that the claims were not made in good faith was supported by competent, substantial evidence," Judge Fred Hazouri wrote. He was joined in the opinion by Judge Gary Farmer and Judge Carole Taylor.

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