MIAMI — The trial pitting Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade against two former business partners who wanted $25 million after a restaurant deal went sour has come to a quick end, with the sides announcing a confidential settlement.
Court was delayed for unexplained reasons for nearly three hours Tuesday. All parties, including Wade, walked into the courtroom at 2:02 p.m., and the settlement was announced eight minutes later.
Judge Peter Adrien also said the sides worked out deals on other cases, which could include another trial that was scheduled in Miami brought by some of the ex-restaurant partners alleging Wade walked away from an agreement to license his name to for charter schools, and an antitrust suit over potential sales of memorabilia.
“It’s a win-win situation for both sides,” Adrien told the jury. “At this time, your service is completed.”
Wade was seeking damages in the restaurant case as well, saying his name and likeness were used in ways he did not approve, which would have violated the original agreement between the sides.
Nearly three weeks after the trial began with jury selection, that six-person panel, along with one alternate, never got to deliberate.
The restaurant case was brought against Wade by plaintiffs Mark Rodberg and Lauren Hollander, Rodberg’s sister, who said they lost millions when the Heat star bailed from a plan to develop a line of sports-themed eateries with his name and likeness.
Wade originally was to receive 10 percent of the profits, plus a guaranteed $1 million over five years, and his best friend Marcus Andrews — who did much of the negotiating in the deal — was to get another 2 percent. Rodberg and another former partner, Richard von Houtman, were to evenly split the remaining 88 percent, according to testimony Wade offered during the trial.
When von Houtman did not satisfy certain responsibilities, Wade said, he and Andrews asked for a bigger share, a total of 30 percent, with Rodberg then to receive the remaining 70 percent. That request ultimately led to the demise of the business arrangement, and the restaurant chain plans ended after just two facilities were opened, both briefly.
Wade testified he was committed to making the restaurant project work, and that he believed his now-scorned partners were the right people to make that happen. He also detailed how the restaurants were marketed at Heat games and how he looked forward to bringing family and friends to the establishments.
“I wanted to have successful restaurants,” Wade testified. “I leaned on them. I leaned on our partners to lead us there.”
Moments after the settlement was announced, a slightly surreal scene broke out: All parties, judge and jury included, took seats in the jury box to pose for a team photo of sorts taken by the bailiff. Wade and Rodberg sat next to each other; Wade’s attorney Michael Kreitzer was on the Heat star’s left, smiling broadly.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
