Lawyer’s Papers in Pooh Case to Remain Sealed
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A Los Angeles judge overseeing a long-running dispute over Winnie the Pooh royalties declined to unseal documents that explain why veteran entertainment attorney Bertram Fields abruptly withdrew from the case last month.
The documents were protected by attorney-client privilege, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ernest Hiroshige wrote.
The judge also said Fields’ former clients, a mother and daughter who hold the merchandising rights to the honey-loving bear, probably would be “prejudiced by any disclosure of the contents of the papers.”
The pair have accused Walt Disney Co. of cheating them out of hundreds of millions of dollars in royalty payments for Pooh-related products.
Earlier this week, an attorney for the Los Angeles Times said he would ask Hiroshige to unseal the documents.
Lawyers for the newspaper said they hadn’t decided whether to file a written motion.
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