Sinking Millennium Tower’s condo owners hire Trump’s lawyer
Condo owners at San Francisco’s sinking Millennium Tower are raising the stakes in their fight to get the infamous downtown building fixed — hiring a celebrity Los Angeles lawyer in anticipation of suing the developer.
Residents of the 58-story high-rise were notified late Monday that the Millennium Tower Association has retained Dan Petrocelli, best known for winning a $33.5 million wrongful-death civil judgment against O.J. Simpson in 1997 on behalf of the families of Simpson’s slain ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman.
[...] Petrocelli represented President Trump in litigation that former students filed against his for-profit Trump University, lawsuits that Trump settled for $25 million just before he took office.
Attorneys for the condo owners have been in mediation talks for months with developer Millennium Partners over stabilizing the high-end tower.
[...] the homeowners association appears to be headed down dual tracks — seeking a deal with Millennium Partners through mediation to get the building fixed ASAP while separately pursuing a lawsuit against the developer, the city and others that could lead to a years-long court fight to determine who pays for it all.
[...] some of the building’s 419 condo owners have filed lawsuits against Millennium Partners, the city and the Transbay Joint Powers Authority, developer of the neighboring Transbay Transit Center.
By and large, the individual condo owners’ suits have claimed Millennium Partners is guilty of fraud, saying the firm was aware of the sinking before the building opened and failed to disclose it to buyers.