A judge has awarded Tony Hsieh’s former lawyer more than $360,000 in a court battle that followed the Las Vegas tech mogul’s death.
District Judge Susan Johnson last week ruled that Las Vegas attorney Puoy Premsrirut is entitled to $366,000, plus late fees, in her lawsuit against Hsieh’s estate over alleged unpaid legal fees.
The ruling came more than four years after Premsrirut filed a creditor’s claim in Hsieh’s probate case for the amount she was just awarded, and more than three years after she sued.
According to her lawsuit, Hsieh hired her in summer 2020 to provide legal services for a year. He died months later from injuries suffered in a house fire, and his estate subsequently terminated the contract with Premsrirut but still owed an outstanding balance, the lawsuit said.
Attorneys for Hsieh’s father, Richard Hsieh, administrator of his son’s estate, responded in court papers that his son’s mental and physical health rapidly deteriorated in the months before his death and that Premsrirut and others allegedly “exploited his condition for their own personal gain.”
As a result of this “exploitation,” the balance on the younger Hsieh’s credit line ballooned to more than $250 million, the court filing claimed.
Last fall, attorneys for Premsrirut alleged in court papers that instead of just paying her for the legal services provided, the estate had engaged “in a smear campaign for the better part of two years” against her.
Her legal team also claimed at the time that she was owed more than $600,000, comprising services rendered, severance and accrued interest.
Hsieh, the former CEO of online shoe seller Zappos and the face of downtown Las Vegas’ economic revival, died on Nov. 27, 2020, at age 46 from injuries suffered in a Connecticut house fire.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342.
