December 1, 2007
Astor Son's Lawyer Under Indictment As Well
Anthony Marshall, the son of the late Brooke Astor, might have chosen a different lawyer if he suspected that he'd be eventually accused of looting his mother's estate. Or perhaps Francis X. Morrissey was the perfect man for the job. Papers are reporting today that Marshall's lawyer has a long history of profiting from soon-to-be-deceased clients. He was in court yesterday, arriving handcuffed, but leaving free on bail.
It would seem to be the darkest moment in the career of a lawyer who over the years has gained a reputation for ingratiating himself to older people and finding his way into their wills or trusts, mostly as a beneficiary, but also as an executor or a trustee.Morrissey's client, Anthony Marshall and Brooke Astor's son, has been accused of making self-benefiting changes to her will while she was not fully cognizant of what she was signing due to mental incapacity. Now, Morrissey has been charged in an 18-point indictment of helping Marshall bilk his mother's estate.
Morrissey is pleading not guilty in the case. He was withdrew his application to the California state bar nine years ago for reasons that remain confidential and was suspended for two years after taking almost a million dollars from a client's escrow account without permission. Both Morrissey and Marshall are named in the suit regarding Brooke Astor's estate.
According to The New York Times, Morissey's career is speckled with sordid behavior. He's already been accused of taking advantage of several elderly and mentally incompetent clients to his financial gain. One case involved allegedly wooing an elderly alcoholic woman who bequested an annuity worth $100,000 to him, because she said she she was in love with him.
Anthony Marshall continues to behave in a sketchy manner. He's out on bail while under indictment, but when asked to surrender his passport to prevent him from fleeing the country he turned over his expired passport, retaining his valid one. The Manhattan DA's office is none too happy with the chicanery and wants to tighten his bail restrictions as well as conduct an inquiry. It seems unlikely that was an honest mistake on Marshall's part.
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1. Morrissey was *suspended* for two years. He was not "disbarred for eight years" as you have written. There's a big difference between the two. You should look it up and change it, before you hear from Morrissey's lawyers.
2. How can you -- or the DA -- be so sure that Marshall's handing over the wrong passport wasn't an honest error?
What do you, Dave (nevermind the self-righteous fundaments in the DA's office who seem bent on creating a situation where Marshall will be unable to get a fair trial), suppose that Marshall thought he would have to gain from that sort of "chicanery"?
Do you seriously think that Marshall deliberately gave them the wrong passport, believing they wouldn't look at it?
This mistake -- and I bet the same thing has happened to plenty of your readers -- has only given the DA, the tabs -- and careless readers -- a further opportunity to make more noise and create further misery.
[1] You are absolutely correct regarding the facts of Mr. Morrissey's career. He was never disbarred and was only suspended for two years. In haste, I confused his suspension with his resignation from the California State Bar, which occurred nine years ago for matters that remain undisclosed. I've made adjustments to the post to reflect these facts. Thank you very much.
I happen to be a victim of a Morrissey scam. My brother a prominent NY physician and Morrissey made themselves co-trustees of my mothers estate in November 2001 using Peter Kelley as the writer of the will. It was in contradiction to her previous testamentary plan and can be considered HIGHLY suspicious. I am now in litigation in Nassau COunty Surrogate's court in reference to this. Notwithstanding, my brother has been involved with Morrissey on at least one other case as well. Just for your information...and to anyone who suspects Morrissey is a NICE guy, you need to have your head examined....or at least recognize that you too could be duped.