Law

Miccosukee family doesn't know who paid $3.1M to legal team

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Two members of the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida testified that they don't know who paid $3.1 million to their prominent attorneys.

Jimmie Bert and his daughter, Tammy Gwen Billie, were represented in a civil wrongful death case by Lewis Tein, a firm led by two former U.S. Attorneys. But both said they didn't pay the firm out of their own pockets.

“I don’t know,” Billie testified, when asked who paid attorneys Guy Lewis and Michael Tein, The Miami Herald reported.

Billie also testified that she didn't ask the tribe for a loan to pay the firm. It appears the tribe paid the firm of its own doing and has been making annual deduction from her per capita payment.

Lewis and Tein are facing perjury sanctions in connection with their handling of the wrongful death case. Bert and Billie were found at fault and were ordered to pay $3.2 million to the family of Liliana Bermudez.

Bert and Billie haven't paid the judgment, saying they don't have the resources to do so.

Get the Story:
Miccosukee Tribe member testifies she didn’t pay her Miami lawyers in perjury hearing (The Miami Herald 4/16)
Prominent Miami lawyers face perjury sanctions hearing in Miccosukee wrongful-death case (The Miami Herald 4/15)