Law firm claims Kazuo Okada owes $63m in unpaid fees
A law firm, Bartlit Beck, claims former Universal Entertainment Corp chairman Kazuo Okada owes it $63m in unpaid attorney fees.
The Philippines.- Law firm Bartlit Beck has asked a federal judge in Chicago to order former Universal Entertainment Corp chairman Kazuo Okada to respond to a discovery request and to pay some of its legal costs. It says Okada owes it $63m in unpaid attorneys’ fees
Okada and the Chicago-based litigation firm have been embroiled in lawsuits since 2018. Okada hired the company for a legal battle between Universal Entertainment and Wynn Resorts that culminated in a $2.6bn settlement.
The arbitration panel tacitly awarded Bartlit Beck $50m in 2019 after Okada stopped participating in the lawsuit.
US district judge John Kness approved the award last March. However, Okada has appealed the decision at the 7th Circuit US Court of Appeals.
Bartlit Beck stated: “Kazuo Okada has long refused to pay the $63,369,610.25 he owes Bartlit Beck. He has now thumbed his nose at Bartlit Beck’s discovery requests aimed at executing that judgment.”
Last month, the Philippines Court of Appeals dismissed fraud charges against Kazuo Okada and his partner Takahiro Usui for misappropriating more than US$3m from Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc.
In 2018 the Philippine Department of Justice had recommended three counts of fraud against Okada after he received US$3.15m in salary and consulting fees “through error or fraud” while serving as CEO of Tiger Resorts, Leisure and entertainment.
