"BNY Mellon Must Stand Trial For Contempt in Mercer Estate Battle" -- Novick & Associates

Court rejects bank's motion to dismiss multiple contempt claims

News provided by

Novick & Associates, Attorneys for Mercer Sons

Apr 15, 2015, 11:00 ET

HUNTINGTON, N.Y., April 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Suffolk County Surrogate Judge John M. Czygier Jr. has denied BNY Mellon's motion to dismiss a contempt petition filed by Howard Mercer and David Mercer in their battle to preserve the estate of their father, famed East Hampton sculptor Norman Mercer.

In his April 2^nd Decision, Judge Czygier denied the motion filed by Moritt, Hock & Hamroff to dismiss the Mercers' petition alleging that the bank failed to comply with multiple court orders to produce bank records.

This isn't the first time that Judge Czygier has commented on BNY Mellon's compliance with the court's discovery orders. In an August 29, 2012 Decision, the Judge wrote that "This court finds the behavior of the fiduciaries troubling on a number of levels, including the possible editing of the corporate fiduciary's (BNY Mellon) guidelines prior to providing same to the Mercer sons' counsel".

More recently, in a May 27, 2014 Order, Judge Czygier ruled, "given the fiduciaries' continued resistance to all aspects of discovery sought (herein), the Court, pursuant to its authority under CPLR 3103, is granting the portion of the Mercer sons' application for the turnover of the ESO file." The Mercers' contempt petition, which the court has refused to dismiss, alleges, among other violations, that BNY Mellon and its co-fiduciaries failed to comply with the Court's May 27, 2014 order.

This is the latest setback for BNY Mellon in the ongoing battle to protect the Estate of Norman Mercer from BNY Mellon Wealth Management's alleged incompetence, negligence and wrongdoing. Norman Mercer died in his E. Hampton home in 2007 at the age of ninety-one.

Contact:
Donald Novick, Novick & Associates P.C.
Email: [email protected]
(631) 547-0300

SOURCE Novick & Associates, Attorneys for Mercer Sons