Posted on 06/09/2007 6:43:37 PM PDT by flixxx
Published Sunday | June 10, 2007 Pals get in legal dust-up over CWS tickets BY TODD COOPER WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
College World Series tickets have been part of estate plans and divorce actions, street negotiations and dinner table mediations.
But this may mark the first time they have been the centerpiece of litigation.
An Omaha attorney and developer, Jerry Slusky, has sued another Omaha attorney, Howard Hahn, over rights to the eight season tickets the two have shared since 1977.
In a filing in Douglas County District Court, Slusky said Hahn has refused to turn over four of the tickets this year.
And as a further nod to just how seriously they're taking this, the attorneys have hired two other attorneys to do battle for them.
Slusky retained Jim Sherrets, whose legal targets in recent years have ranged from the state to the City of Omaha to Girls and Boys Town. Hahn countered with Bill Lamson, who defended Omaha's annexation of Elkhorn and who routinely represents doctors against malpractice claims.
Sherrets and Lamson will be venturing into new legal fields as they spout opinions on seat positions. A hearing is scheduled Monday - four days before the CWS opens June 15.
CWS officials say they have heard of family members - typically, divorcing couples or feuding siblings - fighting over the rights to tickets.
Kathryn Morrissey, executive director of CWS of Omaha Inc., said the CWS gets a few calls annually in which families ask officials to sort out ticket ownership. Some even threaten that they're going to sue each other.
But this is the first time Morrissey has heard of someone following through.
In a weird way, Morrissey said, the lawsuit further demonstrates how coveted CWS tickets are. More than 1,300 people are on a waiting list to purchase all-session tickets - and it's a list that rarely shrinks. The CWS allows season ticket holders to pass on the tickets to immediate family members only - no neighbors, no nephews, no nieces.
"I can't recall any situations where it's actually been litigated," said Morrissey, in her 20th year with the series. "Usually, season tickets bring people together."
What actually is tearing apart Slusky and Hahn - friends since childhood - goes beyond baseball tickets, said a mutual friend, Omaha developer John Hoich.
Slusky and Hahn grew up across the street from each other. They attended the same elementary, junior high and high schools in Omaha - and have maintained an almost brotherly bond that Hoich said he always has admired.
In recent years, Slusky and Hahn had been partners at the same law firm - and had invested in developments that Slusky said did well.
One of those developments, the Shoppes at Lakeside near 168th Street and West Center Road, is the source of their current beef, Hoich said.
Hoich, who owned 50 percent, and Hahn and Slusky, each of whom owned 25 percent, sold the development to a California investor last year.
After the sale closed eight months ago, Hoich said Hahn took issue with some of the legal fees charged by real estate attorney Slusky for work on the development: "an hour here and an hour there."
Hoich noted that he's not an attorney, but he didn't think Slusky's fees were out of line. Hoich said they all made a good profit on the deal, but some of Slusky's fees irritated Hahn.
"It's two lifelong buddies who had the same (brand of) bike - one red, one blue - as kids," Hoich said. "Now, they're in their 60s, they're both attorneys and one is arguing over the other's fees.
"I adore them both. And in John Hoich's opinion, they should both hug, say 'mazel tov' to each other and go watch the College World Series together."
That appeared unlikely last week. Slusky insisted he didn't know why Hahn was upset. He said they all made money from the sale of the shopping center.
"I'm not mad at Howard," Slusky said. "I don't know what he's talking about."
Hahn, a member of the Omaha Airport Authority board, wouldn't detail the rift, but said Slusky well understands it.
"Put it this way: I've got a small stack of papers on my credenza that he's aware of," Hahn said, adding it's not another lawsuit.
The small stack of papers filed in court over this small stack of tickets could make for an interesting case.
Slusky has filed a legal maneuver known as a replevin, which means "an action to recover personal property."
In an affidavit, Slusky says he first purchased four season tickets in 1975 and invited Hahn to share ownership. The two then added four more tickets in 1977.
Both attorneys use the tickets to watch games and entertain clients. The tickets are grouped together in the third and fourth rows along the third-base line.
"They are exquisite (seats)," Slusky said. "I've got out-of-town clients, in-town clients, people who are now regulars.
"You know how important the series has become in Omaha. It's huge for us."
Slusky, who touts the use of mediation at his law firm, said he tried to mediate with Hahn. Hahn offered to find four other tickets for Slusky.
"I said 'I don't want four other tickets, I want my four tickets,'" Slusky said. "I said, 'You don't want me to sue.' He said, 'I don't intimidate easily.'"
Slusky said Hahn argues that he took over ownership of the tickets when Slusky moved to Florida for a few years in the 1980s.
Slusky said he always has paid half the cost of the eight tickets - even while he was in Florida. The four all-session tickets run about $720 this year.
What if the judge decides to split the tickets between the two?
"I'd be happy to sit next to Howard," Slusky said. "Really, I'm not mad at him.
"I just want my tickets."
It’d be sweet justice if the judge had the tickets auctioned off with the proceeds going to a worthy cause.
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