The Region - News from July 19, 1985

A U.S. bankruptcy judge in Detroit has rejected a proposed out-of-court settlement in a dispute over the California ranch that former auto maker John Z. DeLorean gave his attorney for successfully defending him in a Los Angeles trial on cocaine-trafficking charges last year. Judge Ray Reynolds Graves ruled that attorneys in the dispute lacked sufficient information to settle without a trial. The attorneys should have obtained an appraisal of the ranch and lawyers who represent major creditors of DeLorean’s bankrupt car company should not have been excluded from the settlement talks, Graves said. In lieu of legal fees, DeLorean gave his attorney, Howard Weitzman, a 50-acre avocado and citrus ranch near San Diego. The bankruptcy creditors sued, saying DeLorean was trying to prevent them from getting the ranch. Under the April 29 out-of-court settlement, Weitzman would pay the creditors $325,000 and could then keep the proceeds from sale of the ranch.