EFTA00722093.pdf

J. MICHAEL BURMAN, PA12 GREGORY W. COLEMAN. PA ROBERT D. CRITTON, JR.. PA BERNARD A. LEBEDEKER MARK T. LUTHER. P.A. MICHAEL J. PIKE MICHAEL L. SCIIEVE DEAN T. XENICK DAVID A. YARIMA 'FLORIDA BOARD MIMI ED CIVIL TRIAL lAWTER im:surrio To PRACTICE IN FLORMA AND COLORADO Sent By E-Mail Only Jeffrey Epstein BURMAN, CRITTON LUTTIER&COLEMAN,ap You R TRUSTED ADVOCATES A LIMITED LIABILITY PARTNERSHIP August 9, 2010 ADELQUI J. BEHAVENTE PARALEGAL/INVESTIGATOR JESSICA CADWELL BOBBIE M. MCKENNA ASFILIE 'TOKEN-BARING BETTY STOKES PARALEGALS RITA H. BUDNYK Of COUNSEL EDWARD M. RICCI Of COUNSEL Re: Epstein Third Party Bills and Outstanding Attorneys Fees/Costs Dear Jeffrey: You and I had a number of telephone conversations (three or four) on Thursday, August 5, 2010 dealing with the unpaid third party bills and our outstanding attorneys' fees and costs from the June, July and now August bills. The only question that you ever raised with me regarding a bill was a photocopy charge relating to either the April or May bill. Other than the photo copy charge, neither you, Rich or Darren have raised any issue regarding the bills with me until our discussions on Thursday relating to the total amount as distinct from any specific entry, cost or item. The Amended Representation Agreement was reviewed by Darren and you prior to its execution and return to me. You wanted a specific change that would provide that no expert could be hired without your approval; and in fact, we obtained your approval prior to retaining not only any expert, but also any investigator. Copies of all of our legal bills were sent on a monthly basis to you, Rich and Darren, as per your request. With regard to our June bill (May time), I spoke directly with you and subsequently wrote to you in late June of 2010 requesting payment. You did not refuse to pay, you simply ignored my request. For approximately a month now, you, Rich and Darren have had copies of the third parties who are owed monies. On numerous occasions I have requested payment or authorization from you to pay them from our trust monies, but to date, have been ignored. Following the settlements of Brads cases, you requested that I provide you the total fees and costs that have been paid by you to date. You also requested the additional approximate fees and costs that would be due in July, and I provided that information to you in mid-July as well. Once you received that information, on July 14, 2010, you sent an email to Rich that said 'Rich, please see to it that the Critten (sic) bills are taken care of asap!' 303 BANYAN BOULEVARD • SUITE 400 • WEST PALM BEACH. Ft 33401 • PI IONE: FAX EFTA00722093 August 9, 2010 Page 2 The only question that Rich Kahn posed to me following your instruction to him to pay my firm's bills was his issue in trying to locate a $159,000 payment out of our trust account. As I advised you on during our communications on Thursday, we discovered that one of the settlement amounts had been omitted from his calculation, which was approximately $160,000. I asked Rich 10 days ago in a number of e-mails whether or not all of his questions were answered, including the $160,000 issue, but he did not respond to my email and to date has not wired any funds to my office. I am enclosing a copy of the e-mail I sent you on May 8, 2009 along with the Amended Representation Agreement which you subsequently executed. When our firm agreed, at your request and that of Jack Goldberger, to again represent you, which occurred in late April of 2009, it was based upon the new agreement. In addition, you were required, prior to our re-entry into your representation, to bring us current with the outstanding legal bills which were due and owing as of that date, which you paid. I spent a lot of quality time with you preparing for and participating in negotiations regarding various claims against you, including the Podhurst legal fee issue. On each of the three or four occasions that we spoke on Thursday, you had to end the conversation. I know you are busy, and I took no offense, but the conversations were going nowhere. Having further conversations regarding our outstanding bills serves no purpose at this point. The e-mails which I received on Friday and Saturday are interesting; however, they do not accurately quote that which I said and therefore any further correspondence or telephone conversations will not assist in getting the third party vendor and fees/costs issues resolved. The Amended Representation Agreement was drafted very carefully to protect your rights, as well as my firm's rights, in the unlikely event that you would have questions or concerns associated with our bills or representation or you. All of the lawyers, paralegals and staff in my office have worked incredibly hard on your behalf. As you know, you are very hands on and controlling client. That is certainly your right and I understood that when I again agreed to represent you in various existing matters, matters yet to be filed and other unrelated matters. To date, we handled approximately 20 filed cases, another 20 or so claims which were not filed, the Rothstein matter, the Podhurst fee claim and various NPA related issues that affected the civil litigation, etc. Two weeks ago, you indicated to me on the telephone that you were going to be Tait' and in fact, "overly fair with regard to the payment of our fees and costs. You don't need to be overly fair; you simply need to comply with your contractual obligations. Both you and Darren indicated that Jack Goldberger would be calling me regarding the bills. Last year, shortly after he asked on your behalf that I reconsider my decision to no longer represent you, he also asked that he not be involved in any EFTA00722094 August 9, 2010 Page 3 payment issues between you and my firm. I intend to honor that request. I value Jacks friendship and do not wish any issues associated with our billing to become an issue between Jack and me. Jack isVCcriminal defense lawyer, and he will always be at the top of my list for referrals. Please advise by Tuesday, no later than 5:00 p.m., answers to the following: 1. Will you provide me sufficient funds to pay the third party bills which have previously been sent to you (and consist of Dr. Hall, Rock Legal, Prose and Visual Evidence) totaling approximately $90,000; or can I pay those third party bills from the $157,000 which is being currently held in trust? 2. You owe my firm slightly over $523,000.00. If payment is wired to us Tuesday no later than 5:00 p.m., we will accept $500,000 in full payment of outstanding bills (assuming that you have sent or will allow us to pay the third party providers referenced in ¶1 above). Because we retained $150,000 in trust to use against you final bill, only $350,000 need be wired. We are giving you a discount (which is what you were requesting on Thursday) as a courtesy to get this matter resolved quickly despite knowing there is no justification to discount the charges. If you do not pay this amount, my firm will seek the entire amount plus interest, as set forth in the Amended Representation Agreement. Please send or have your representative send me a written response. Cordially y Robe I. Critton, Jr. RDC/clz Cc: Darren Indyke, Esq. Jack A. Goldberger, Esq. Michael J. Pike, Esq. Mark Luttier, Esq. EFTA00722095