Comments (36) | Add a comment
Attorney jailed, released in estate battle
-
Stanley Walton
Tools
A respected Las Vegas defense attorney was jailed Tuesday following a years long estate battle in which about $4 million is reportedly unaccounted for. District Judge Elissa Cadish ordered a no-bail bench warrant for contempt of court for Stanley Walton, 52, after he failed to appear before the judge earlier this week.
Probate Commissioner and Judge Wesley Yamashita on Friday ordered Walton released from custody following a brief hearing, which largely consisted of private discussions between the attorneys and the attorneys and the judge.
Tom Pitaro, one of three attorneys present on behalf of Walton, requested time to meet in private with Michelle Abrams, the attorney for the estate of Thomas Sims.
"I think there is some confusion over what is happening, given the events of the last three days," Pitaro said.
Walton allegedly refused several summonses to appear for a court proceeding where a creditor can ask a debtor questions regarding his or her assets. That purported snub prompted the bench warrant.
Yamashita admonished Walton for his failures to appear, saying the attorney should not consider a summons to probate court "small potatoes. The court can't abide being ignored too many times."
Walton next appears before Cadish at 8:30 a.m. Thursday. A status check on the required judgment debtor examination is set for 9:30 a.m. Nov. 5 in front of Yamashita.
Walton was appointed the administrator for Sims' estate after his death Sept. 1, 2004. Sims, 46, owned T.E. Sims Construction and was a general contractor. His wife, Lisa Sims, was the beneficiary of the estate, according to court records. Her attorneys said that for three years Walton failed to take an accurate inventory of the estate.
After numerous warnings from probate court and several continuances, Walton in December 2008 said there was $1.4 million in the estate.
Lisa Sims' attorneys disputed that claim and said the estate was worth $5.6 million, according to court records. Walton failed to account for several properties that were sold, according to court records.
Walton was suspended as administrator of the estate in January 2009. Since then, Lisa Sims' attorneys have been calling for Walton to be held in contempt of court. Walton was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on Tuesday.
Walton is described by local attorneys as a likable and respected lawyer; there were a handful of supporters in court. According to the State Bar of Nevada website, Walton, a graduate of the Washburn University School of Law in Topeka, Kan. , has not been the subject of previous disciplinary action.
Messages left at Walton's law office and for Cadish have not been returned.
Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Contact Doug McMurdo at dmcmurdo@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512 or read more courts coverage at lvlegalnews.com.
Trending topics:
Comments
Terms & Conditions
The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsiblity of the authors. The Review-Journal does not review comments before publication nor guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by the comment policy. If you see a comment that violates the policy, please use the Report Abuse button.
Some comments may not display immediately due to an automatic filter. These comments will be reviewed within 24 hours. Please do not submit a comment more than once.
Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.
RSS
Twitter
Facebook
"Walton, a graduate of the Washburn University School of Law in Topeka, Kan. , has not been the subject of previous disciplinary action"
I filed a complaint against this guy and the bar did nothing about it.. the guy is as guilty as he looks... I personally saw his signiture on some documents that should not have been there... i say hang him high!!!
All of you nay-sayers will be proven wrong and Mr. Walton will be proven right/vindicated! Those of us who know and respect him, fully support & believe in him 100%.
It’s so funny how much everybody hates lawyers until the day comes when they need one. Same thing with the cops, you hate them till you need them. A little bit of a catch 22 I guess.
Why would anyone with that much money hire a guy like this to be in charge of his estate? More money than brains....again.
Nobody, nobody is over the law. If he didn't answer the first time, something is wrong with the money, there are 5.2 millions dollars in a
somebody pocket. If he is one the good ones, how could be the bad ones?
I for one might think that there could be a possibility of misappropriation of funds?
There sure is much written about dead people, their belongings and probate here lately. Where there is smoke, sometimes there is an inferno.
Excuse me....it took probate court 3 years to get this straight???? The poor beneficiary who had to hire an attorney to get her rightful inheritance. What a mess...probate court should be ashamed of itself by not doing its job and protecting the people from bad attorneys.
Looking at this mug shot this morning is like a fresh cup of black coffee. "Walton is described by local attorneys as a likable and respected lawyer;" We all know lawyers stick together! The judges should stick together too. They should follow through with the good judgment of Judge Cadish and not have had him released until his court date. Think about it, it was a no-bail court order. To the honorable Judge Cadish, good job!
I recently attended a Catholic high school class reunion and one classmate (a judge) told me that, "Half of our class became lawyers and the other half went to jail." He ended with, "And some of them did both." ;-)