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Seth Miles Settles a Big One

Young gunner Seth Miles recently settled one of the wrongful death claims arising from Palm Beach multimillionaire Fred Keller's shooting spree:

Millionaire murderer Fred Keller was known as a tough, tight-fisted businessman, and now in death his estate has prevailed in court cases for the second time in the past week.

Lawyers for the estate of Rosemarie Keller, the ex-wife whom Keller shot dead, accepted a $6.37 million settlement from Fred Keller's estate on Tuesday, during the third day of a wrongful-death lawsuit being tried without a jury. One of the attorneys for Rosemarie Keller's estate said at the trial's outset that they were seeking $37 million.

"It is certainly less than the total amount we sought," said the attorney, Seth Miles. But "the family members are satisfied."

The money, minus the attorneys' contingency fee, will be divided among Rosemarie Keller's family. In her will, Rosemarie Keller left 70 percent of her estate to her son, Fredchen, who turns 13 on Friday, and 30 percent to four siblings and her mother.

A jury last week awarded one of Rosemarie's brothers, Wolfgang Keil, $3.16 million for physical and emotional injuries he incurred in the same shooting that claimed his sister's life. He had sought $33.6 million.

The lower amounts were consistent with what the attorneys for Keller's estate said was reasonable.

Still to be settled is a claim for noneconomic damages by Fredchen Keller.

The settlement in the latest case is solely to compensate Rosemarie Keller's estate for income she would have earned had she lived out her natural years. Attorneys on both sides said it was a tricky business estimating what that amount would be.

"It was tragic that Rose died prematurely, and it was difficult to forecast what she would earn in the future," said Steven Rothman, one of the lawyers for the Fred Keller estate.

Hmm. Hard to tell who really prevailed on this one. Could these amounts have been negotiated without forcing the families into a painful trial? Did Steve Rothman and Peter Sachs' defense strategy save their clients money, or did they spend a lot of client dough for a settlement that was on the table from the get-go?

Full post as published by South Florida Lawyers on February 13, 2008 (boomark / email).