Lawyer's lawsuit drags on for 3 years

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ROMULUS, Mich., Sept. 16 (UPI) -- The battle over TV game show winnings has clogged the Michigan court system for three years, with both sides sniping at each other, court records show.

Attorney Kevin Hirsch says he's entitled to a third of the $50,000 attorney and friend Rebecca Kesler won on a 2009 episode of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" because he helped her get on the show in exchange for a share of the pot, The Detroit News reported Saturday.

Kesler, of Van Buren Township, says she doesn't remember agreeing to sharing her winnings. Hirsch sued for breach of contract.

"[Hirsch's] claims are merely the sour grapes of a person who is manufacturing a claim for compensation due to jealousy and greed," Kesler wrote to the judge in April.

District Court Judge David Parrott in Romulus ruled against Kesler and said Hirsch deserved a third of Kesler's winnings and awarded him $11,376 -- $876 more than Kesler offered as a settlement in 2011, the News said.

Kesler has said she won't pay while the matter is on appeal.

"At this point I'll never be repaid for what she has taken from me," Hirsch, of West Bloomfield Township, told the News.

Kesler was sanctioned by Parrott and another judge for making a frivolous legal argument and for misrepresenting a judge's ruling, the News said. The state Attorney Grievance Commission filed misconduct charges against her, the report said.