We've been following the fallout over the late Brooke Astor's will and estate for a while, but today's in-depth article in the NY Times about lawyer Francis Morrissey's numerous clients who put him in their wills is pretty damning. Morrissey was indicted (along with Astor's son Anthony Marshall) on charges if trying to, essentially, loot Astor's estate last month.
The Times explains that he worked with two other lawyers, Wililam Forsythe and Peter Kelly, used their acquaintances with "wealthy and prominent people" to collect "sizable fees for serving as executors or trustees and for performing legal work on estate and trust matters." From the NY Times:
Mr. Morrissey has earned a reputation for helping take care of elderly people, some of whom he had known for decades, without billing them for his work. And he has provided gifts like smoked hams and turkeys during the holidays, or cashmere robes. In return, a number of these people have left him bequests in their wills or chosen him as a fiduciary of their estates.
Translation of the implied suspicion: Morrissey would woo rich, old people with freebies and then run a will-grift.
In a number of cases, Forsythe would prepare the will and Morrissey would be a beneficiary; Kelley might supervise. In one instance, Sam Schurr apparently signed new will and trust the day before he died - leaving his apartment and art collection to Morrissey! Morrissey later settled with a relative of Shurr's. That makes the Manhattan DA's charge that Morrissey - along with Marshall - forged a codicil in Astor will (which benefited Marshall) very interesting.
