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Robert Indiana Estate Lawyers Reach $2M Settlement With Maine Attorney General

A long-running legal dispute ended with lawyers of Robert Indiana estate agreeing to pay $2 million+ to the Maine Attorney General’s office.

The high-profile legal dispute has been dragged for years between multiple parties. The charges include financial mismanagement and elder abuse, to name a few. The Maine Attorney General launched an investigation into the claims that the lawyers of the Robert Indiana estate had been paying themselves unjustifiable sums of money. On Monday, the office submitted their report which revealed that the lawyers had paid themselves more than $10 million since the death of Indiana in 2018.

Robert Indiana was a prominent name in the Pop art movements in the United States, best known for his ‘LOVE’ series that is one of the most well-known art series today. The primary accused in the dispute was the Morgan Art Foundation, which has represented Robert Indian during his lifetime and also holds copyright over most of his works. Other names included James W. Brannan (executor, Robert Indiana estate) and Jamie Thomas (Indiana’s caretaker). Last year, many legal disputes involving them were settled for undisclosed amounts of money.

Aaron Frey, Maine Attorney General

Since the investigation launched, Brannan had been denying any mismanagement of funds (as recent as last week). On the other hand, the Attorney General’s office has initially sought a penalty of $3.7 million, as opposed to the $2 million currently granted. Speaking about the judgement, Aaron Frey (Attorney General, Maine) said: “Every dollar going unnecessarily to pay lawyers and the Personal Representative was another dollar unavailable to the charity to fulfill its mission and Robert Indiana’s vision.”