THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 12, 1994 TAG: 9410120491
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
Two more lawyers - a pair of state senators from Richmond and North Carolina - tried to claim another chunk of Walter Cole's $9 million Lotto prize Tuesday.
The two lawyers worked for Cole for two months. They say they deserve $1 million of the jackpot that the 73-year-old Elizabeth City man was awarded sole claim to last month after a two-year legal battle against others in a betting pool.
A judge awarded $850,000 last month to another set of lawyers who did seven months of early work for Cole.
Cole fired both sets of lawyers last year because he was unhappy with their work.
The lawyers who made their claim Tuesday - former Richmond Mayor Henry L. Marsh III and Frank W. Ballance Jr. of Warrenton, N.C. - say Cole owes them the money from a contingency contract he signed with them in May 1993. They say Cole fired them for no good reason in July 1993.
Marsh and Ballance were the second pair of lawyers hired by Cole in his legal battle over the 1992 Lotto jackpot. Cole had bought the ticket in Chesapeake, but four friends in a betting pool with him said they were co-owners of the ticket.
Cole won last month in Chesapeake Circuit Court, but has yet to receive most of the money. Paperwork is holding up the process. So far, Cole has received just the 20 percent undisputed share of his first three annual payments - about $60,000 a year after taxes.
When the paperwork clears, he will get $306,680 a year after taxes.
In the process of winning the money, Cole has gone through three sets of lawyers. Each is demanding a share of the pot.
Cole's first lawyers - the law firms of Peter G. Decker Jr. of Norfolk and Russell Twiford of Elizabeth City - won $850,000 last month for about 1,000 hours of work. That's about $850 an hour.
Cole fired them for not moving his case quickly enough.
His third and last attorney - J. Nelson Happy, dean of the Regent University Law School - is working for a flat fee. Neither Cole nor Nelson will say how much it is.
All lawyers' fees will be paid in annual installments, from the Lotto winnings.
Now Cole's second set of lawyers - Marsh and Ballance - have asked for $1.08 million. They say they worked 541 hours in about two months. If they get the full $1 million, that would be $2,000 an hour.
In court Tuesday, Marsh said he deserves the money because he took a risk taking the case on a contingency basis. ``We could have ended up with nothing if we had not been successful,'' he said.
Marsh also claimed his work was crucial to Cole winning the case. Marsh and Ballance filed the brief that eventually cinched Cole's case at the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
Cole disagreed.
``These lawyers are trying to take all my money,'' Cole said after the hearing.
``They're not entitled to nothing. They done nothing.''
In court, Cole's current attorney, Happy, said of Marsh and Ballance, ``These gentlemen put in very little time in the case, added very little to it.''
Judge E. Preston Grissom did not rule on the lawyer's request Tuesday. He asked for more legal briefs and said he may hold another hearing in a month.
Cole's family left the courthouse muttering.
``I think the lawyers think they won the lottery,'' said Cole's son, Hercules Cole. ``If they want the money, why don't they buy a lottery ticket?''
KEYWORDS: LOTTERIES NORTH CAROLINA WINNERS DISPUTE
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