The McCaskeys have been planning this since Mugs Halas death. In 1979, the Brizoiara family owned 8% of the Bears, Mugs owned 20%, Virginia McCaskey 21% and the grandchildren 43%. When Mugs died, his kids owned 28% of the team, making them the most powerful shareholder.
Virginia was the executor of Mugs estate since the Halas children were 11 & 13. In 1981, Virginia reorganized the Bears ownership with her father 87-year-old football player George Halas. It gave Virginia control by giving her the voting rights for the 51% of the grandkid’s stock
George Halas died in 1984, Virginia again reorganized ownership. She devalued the Halas kids stock by turning their shares from Class A to C. The Halas’ lost their representation on the board.
As the executor of Mugs estate, Virginia was legally required to represent the best interest of Christine & Stephen Halas. Virginia took their voting rights, devalued their stock and kicked them off the board. She never even told the Halas kids of the reorg. Then shit hit the fan
In 1986, the Halas kids filed 3 lawsuits: 1. Against Virginia for improper use of executor powers 2. Breach of fiduciary duties by the Kirkland & Ellis law firm 3. Wrongful death against the fire, police departments & many others that they participated in a cover up of Mugs death
Halas vs McCaskey lawsuit, Halas won but lost. The judge ruled that the executors breached their responsibilities by not telling the kids but said they didn’t harm the kids interests. Halas was given the satisfaction of outing her Aunt Virginia. But they received no compensation
In the Kirkland & Ellis case, Halas won but lost again. The court ruled that they had conflicting interests by representing the Bears & McCaskeys. During the team’s reorg the firm acted in bad faith by failing to inform the kids guardian attorney.
The firm was found guilty but Kirkland & Ellis’ actions and contracts could not be undone. The Halas kids would never reclaim their inheritance because of what the firm did. In a separate lawsuit, the firm was found guilty of fee-gouging the Halas kids, overcharging them by $500k
The final lawsuit against the fire & police departments, Medical Examiner, Hospital, NFL & Rozelle. The suit accused the parties of overlooking the possibility that Mugs was killed. The outlandish suit seemed to be stunt to gain control of the team but it uncovered crazy evidence
Illinois law requires an autopsy in sudden deaths, but no such autopsy was done on Halas. Mugs body was exhumed, they found the brain, heart, lungs, kidneys, spleen, gall bladder and spinal cord were removed. To identify the cause of death the autopsy must examine & weight organs
After the discovery of removed organs, the Halas lawyers wanted the doctors, paramedics & police to testify. The motion was denied. Although the doctors, paramedics and police were the ones responsible for not performing the first autopsy. At this point, the case was dead.
The kids were forced to sell the stock to the McCaskey’s for $17 million. The Bears are now worth $5.8 billion, the Halas stock would be worth $1.6 billion. 2 years later, the McCaskey’s sold the Halas stock for $30 million. The family made a 76% profit off the Halas stock.
The McCaskeys owed $50 million to the government on the estate. They went to court and won. They were not required to pay the $50 million and were given $1.4 million. An unprecedented result, especially for the same group of people that were not able to protect the Halas kids
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