Patricia Cornwell wins lawsuit against financial firm
It could have been a case ripped from the pages of her bestselling crime novels. Fortunately for Patricia Cornwell, a contentious dispute about mismanaged money had a happy ending when a Boston jury awarded her $51 million in damages in a suit against a Manhattan financial firm she said cost her millions of dollars in lost revenues.
The mystery writer was awarded $50.9 million in a federal lawsuit against financial firm Anchin, Block & Anchin LLP, and its former principal, Evan Snapper, for negligence. Cornwell hired the firm in 2005 to manage her accounts and claimed it mismanaged her fortune, causing her to lose $89 million, with her net worth dwindling to close to $13 million 鈥� a record low for the commercially successful author who earns an eight-figure salary most years.
鈥淕od bless justice,鈥� Cornwell said after the verdict was announced, according to the Associated Press. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a huge relief and it鈥檚 been a huge ordeal.鈥�
The author 鈥� who, thanks to the lawsuit, is now also known for her lavish lifestyle, which includes Ferraris, helicopters, and a $40,000-a-month apartment she rented in New York City 鈥� said the firm鈥檚 mismanagement 鈥渃aused her to miss a book deadline for the first time in her career when it failed to find her a suitable place to write after renovation work on her house in Concord went on much longer than expected,鈥� according to the .
鈥淭his was very destabilizing. I really lost my ability to focus and concentrate. I did not know what the book was about anymore,鈥� Cornwell said, according to the AP.
That missed deadline caused her to lose at least one year鈥檚 income 鈥� about $15 million, she claimed.
The 56-year-old crime novelist is best known for her Scarpetta series starring medical examiner Kay Scarpetta. The books shine a spotlight on the field of forensic science and are even said to have influenced such popular TV series as "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and "Cold Case Files."
Cornwell鈥檚 books have sold more than 100 million copies. Perhaps, with this real-life happy ending in hand, they will climb higher yet.
Husna Haq is a Monitor correspondent.
