Las Vegas shooter’s brother fires lawyers in estate case

The brother of mass shooter Stephen Paddock had a hard time Thursday finding an attorney to manage the gunman’s estate.

After firing a law firm that had agreed to handle the estate, Eric Paddock was unable to strike a deal with any other lawyers.

“The majority of lawyers here are representing victims, so the only choice may be to let the court approve somebody,” said attorney Stephen Stubbs, who Paddock hired to help him find a law firm.

Paddock tried to do the right thing, said Stubbs, who Paddock also later fired.

“I tried. I’m done,” Paddock told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “I’m going home as soon as possible.”

Clear Counsel Law Group, the firm Paddock fired, withdrew a court petition to oversee distribution of the funds from the shooter’s estate.

“I’m very upset and disappointed with the law firm because they didn’t honor my instructions that I paid them to do in communicating with the media,” Paddock said.

Paddock, who lives in Orlando, Florida, previously told the Review-Journal that he came to Las Vegas last week to help gather his brother’s assets for the victims. He also was interviewed extensively by FBI agents and Las Vegas police investigating last week’s mass shooting on the Strip.

Fifty eight people were killed and nearly 500 injured when the shooter fired rifle shots into the Route 91 Harvest country music festival Oct. 1 from his 32nd-floor room at the Mandalay Bay across the street.

Clear Counsel partner, Jonathan Barlow, said in a statement before the firm was fired that he had filed the petition in District Court on Wednesday.

“The estate is being opened in order to collect and preserve the shooter’s assets for the victims,” Barlow said in the statement, which was prepared by a public relations firm.

He later told the Review-Journal: “Our interest is to help the victims with the probate, but if his brother wants to go in a different direction, he’s entitled to hire a different firm.”

Barlow said in the statement that the value of the shooter’s estate has not been determined.

Eric Paddock told the Review-Journal previously that getting victims money from his brother’s estate is a big priority for him in Las Vegas.

Family lawyers for one of the victims have filed court papers seeking the appointment of Clark County Public Administrator John Cahill to take control of the shooter’s assets, including a $369,000 Mesquite home.

But a judge has not yet taken any action on the matter.

Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4564. Follow @JGermanRJ on Twitter.