McDermott Partner Testifies on Brooke Astor's Embarrassment
Over defense objections, the former head of trusts and estates at Sullivan & Cromwell testified yesterday about Brooke Astor’s embarrassment over her son’s marriage to a preacher’s ex-wife.
Henry Christensen III is now a partner at McDermott, Will & Emery, according to stories in the New York Law Journal and the Am Law Daily. At S&C, he represented both Brooke Astor and her son, Anthony Marshall, who is accused along with lawyer Francis X. Morrissey Jr. of changing the wealthy Astor’s will to benefit themselves.
Prosecutors have contended Christensen had a conflict of interest when he drafted a codicil in December 2003 while representing both Astor and Marshall, according to the stories. The amendment to the will gave Marshall the authority to decide which charities could receive up to 49 percent of one of her trust funds, the New York Times reports.
Christensen was fired a month later and new lawyers drafted a second codicil that gave Marshall control of the estate after bequests were paid. Prosecutors claim Christensen was ousted because he would not agree to more changes, and Astor was not competent when she signed the second will amendment, the Times story says.
Christensen’s testimony that Astor was embarrassed by Marshall’s 1992 marriage to his third wife, Charlene, helped bolster the prosecution’s case. But “the good stuff will have to wait” for today, according to the Am Law Daily.
The defense had challenged Christensen’s testimony, saying prosecutors should not be able to present his concerns over the dual representation while challenging his statements on competency, the Times says. Judge A. Kirke Bartley Jr. ruled for the prosecution.
