The legal firepower has been ratcheted up a notch in the battle over the breakup of the $15 billion Pritzker family empire.
Dan Webb, top gun at Chicago’s Winston & Strawn and a former U.S. attorney, has agreed to represent Matthew Pritzker, a 20-year-old college student whose family trust funds allegedly were looted of about $1 billion, according to a lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court.
Matthew Pritzker is not a party to the suit, which was filed in late November by his sister Liesel Pritzker, but he is one of the central characters in the family skirmish.
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According to the suit, both Liesel and Matthew’s trust funds were systematically emptied by their father, Robert Pritzker, violating his fiduciary duty as trustee of the funds. Named as defendants in the case are Robert Pritzker as well as a bevy of Liesel’s cousins and half-siblings from Robert’s first marriage.
Webb, who has defended tobacco companies against sick smokers and Microsoft in a federal antitrust case, said he is trying to find an out-of-court solution for Matthew.
“Matthew recognizes–and I recognize–that this is a very sensitive family issue,” Webb said Thursday. “If there’s a possibility to resolve it without resort to the courts, that should be in everyone’s interest.”
Indeed, Liesel Pritzker’s lawsuit could have costly ramifications because it threatens to stall a breakup of the Pritzker empire among the grandchildren of family patriarch A.N. Pritzker. The jewel of the Pritzker holdings is the Hyatt hotel chain, but the family also has interests in casinos, upscale retirement communities and Trans Union, a credit-rating service.
Meanwhile, a swarm of lawyers made an initial appearance before Circuit Court Judge Patrick McGann Thursday, providing the first glimpse of how the wealthy clan is dividing into factions.
Thomas, Nicholas and Penny Pritzker, the powerful triumvirate that runs the various family businesses, has hired Mark Hansen of the Washington, D.C., firm of Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd & Evans to represent them. Chicago attorney Richard Prendergast, a sole practitioner who once headed the Chicago Bar Association, is appearing as their local counsel.
Robert Pritzker and his children Karen and James Pritzker are being represented by prominent Chicago attorney Lowell Sachnoff and partner Barry Rosen of Sachnoff & Weaver Ltd.
Five of Liesel and Matthew’s cousins have signed on with the Wall Street law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell.
Locally, Chicago attorney William Harte will speak for them along with Eric Brandfonbrener, an attorney with Perkins Coie, the Seattle-based law firm that also represents Boeing Co.
The Pritzker cousins pushed for the breakup plan after discovering that Thomas, Nicholas and Penny had paid themselves about $500 million more than other family members thought they were entitled to.
Not much happened at Thursday’s brief court session. Attorneys for both sides agreed that Feb. 28 would be the deadline for the defendants in the suit to reply to the allegations.
But Lazar Raynal, the lead attorney for Liesel Pritzker, promised to push ahead with the discovery portion of the case “as quickly and aggressively as possible.”
“We’re preparing our case for trial,” Raynal said in an interview Wednesday.
Raynal, a partner with McDermott, Will & Emery, said his firm is not in negotiations with Pritzker family attorneys.
Before the February deadline, Raynal will be seeking Pritzker documents, including a secret agreement drawn up in 2001 that details how the family fortune will be divvied up.
Even if the Pritzkers decide to settle the suit, Raynal says the breakup document must come to light so his firm can determine whether Liesel is getting a fair share.
“This case is not going to resolve one way or another without us seeing that document,” he said.