My previous post regarding Stern v. Marshall closed with the phrase: May justice prevail.   Today, sixteen years after this circus began for the Marshall family, it finally did. After nearly two decades, mounting legal fees and two trips to the land’s highest court, a long-awaited decision in Stern v. Marshall finally arrived.   In a 5-4 decision the Supreme Court ruled against the estate of the late Anna Nicole Smith and delivered a clear victory for the Marshall estate. The high court ruled that a California bankruptcy court’s decision that awarded the now-deceased Playmate centerfold $475 million (later reduced to $88 million) from the estate of businessman J. Howard Marshall II was decided incorrectly. The 26-year old Smith and the 89-year old Marshall were wed in 1994.  Marshall died the next year. Marshall left his estate to his now deceased son, E. Pierce Marshall, specifically and intentionally electing not to include Smith.  A California bankruptcy court then awarded Smith part of the estate.  The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, however, ruled that a bankruptcy court could not enter a final decision on an issue outside of bankruptcy law.  Today, the high court agreed. The Supreme Court’s decision should put an end to other pending Read More …

“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored,” said famous English writer Aldous Huxley—my sentiments too after reading the pseudo profile of former Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith in a recent edition of the New York Magazine. The in-depth 16-page article, written on the heels of a pending Supreme Court decision inStern v. Marshall (formerly Marshall v. Marshall) failed to accurately portray the extraordinary legal case that should have ended when Smith died from a drug overdose in 2007. Journalism short of hard facts is nothing more than sensationalism. In this case at stake is a sizable fortune and long-awaited justice due to the Marshall family. The New York story is an illustration of fame hijacking justice. Tales told of a sad saga taken from a best-selling novel ripe with greed, sex, drugs and money. Except in this instance, it is the Marshall’s money. And it appears Howard K. Stern—executor of Smith’s estate—Larry Birkhead, and their army of attorneys want some of it. But again, whose money is it?  Just the facts … Read the original article.