Norm Pattis, Fotis Dulos' Lawyer, Sued Over Retainer Payment

HARTFORD, CT — Norm Pattis, the hard-charging attorney who represented the late Fotis Dulos, is being sued by the family of Jennifer Farber Dulos for a $250,000 retainer Pattis received a couple of weeks before Fotis took his own life.

In the lawsuit filed this month in Hartford Superior Court, attorney Richard Weinstein, who represents Jennifer Dulos' mother, Gloria Farber, argues Pattis should turn the retainer over to help pay for debts his former client owes.

Pattis represented Fotis Dulos, who was accused of murdering his estranged wife in May 2019. Her body has not been found. Fotis Dulos died in late January.

Farber's mother won a nearly $2 million judgment against Fotis Dulos' estate after successfully arguing that she and her late husband, Hilliard Farber, loaned Fotis money for his luxury home building business; Fotis claimed the money was a gift.

Yet when he died, Fotis Dulos was basically broke and he owed money to several creditors, including the Farbers.

The $250,000 retainer Pattis received, in addition to other payments purportedly from Fotis Dulos to Pattis' firm, were "fraudulent transfers," Weinstein argues, and should be turned over the creditors.

Essentially, Weinstein claims Pattis did not provide $250,000 worth of legal services in the two weeks between when Pattis was given the retainer and when Fotis died. Additionally, Weinstein claims that Pattis did not stipulate an hourly rate to keep track of the work done under the retainer.

"The retainer agreement purports to constitute a lump sum retainer earned when paid in violation of the Rules of Professional Responsibility," Weinstein states.

Responding to the lawsuit, Pattis' New Haven-based attorney, John R. Williams, told Patch and other media outlets that he expects to win and "will seek compensation from everyone responsible" for launching the motion.

"This is an utterly frivolous and meritless lawsuit which appears to have been brought on behalf of the woman who bears a large measure of responsibility for the tragedy that has enveloped this family," Williams wrote in an email. "We not only intend to defend the case vigorously, but after we prevail we will seek compensation from everyone responsible for bringing it. There is much to be said here and we fully intend to say it in the appropriate forum and at the appropriate time. For now, it is sufficient to say that Attorney Weinstein and his clients are wasting whatever resources the Estate may have, which is not surprising since the true motive for the suit obviously is something other than money."

The Dulos case:

• Dulos Estate Lawyer Claims Jennifer Dulos Likely Dismembered
• New Details On How Jennifer Dulos May Have Died: Warrant
• Jennifer Dulos' Killer Still At Large, Says Fotis Dulos' Family
• Finding Jennifer Dulos Remains '#1 Focus' For Chief Prosecutor
• Jennifer Dulos Was Never In 'Human Grave' Prosecutor Says: Report
• Shocking Details Revealed In Case Of Missing New Canaan Mom