Hicks Is Getting Ready to Take His $1.6 Billion Challenge of Liverpool FC Sale Back to Court

By Robert Wilonsky Thu., Dec. 2 2010 at 9:18 AM

Categories: Biz, Sports

Hicks in October, when he told all of the U.K. that the sale of Liverpool was an "epic swindle."

Moment after a Dallas court date that cleared the way for the sale of Liverpool FC to New England Sports Ventures, attorneys representing Tom Hicks called it an "extraordinary swindle" and vowed to "apply all of their legal energies toward securing at least $1.6 billion in damages they expect will result from the proposed illegal sale of the Liverpool Football Club." Hicks himself would later call the sale an "epic swindle" in an interview broadcast in England. But in late October, Fish & Richardson principal Tom Melsheimer told Unfair Park he wasn't sure when Hicks and George Gillett would file their suit: "We're evaluating what our legal rights and opportunities are, and I'm hopeful that'll reach some resolution sooner than later."

That sooner than later's right now -- well, February, actually. But news out of the U.K. is that on February 9 and 10, Hicks and Gillett's attorneys will be back in the High Court for a hearing they hope will pave the way for their bringing that monster-money suit against New England Sports Ventures (now known as Fenway Sports Group) and former Anfield chairman Martin Broughton, who helped seal the deal with the owners of the Boston Red Sox. I've left messages for Melsheimer and Steve Stodghill, Hicks's local attorneys, but this is what one of his English attorneys tells the Express today:

"It is hoped that the hearing will enable the dispute between the various parties to be unravelled and the way forward to be determined," said Keith Oliver, from solicitors Peters and Peters. "They [Hicks and Gillett] feel very wronged by the process and will consider their options."

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