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In the ongoing family struggle over Tom Benson's fortune, a new attorney is now overseeing the trusts holding non-voting shares in the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans franchises -- interests in the teams that Benson wants to take back, according to court records.

Benson, controlling owner of the sports franchises, filed a lawsuit in federal court in New Orleans on March 11 to remove all stock in the teams from trust funds he set up for his daughter, Renee Benson, and grandchildren Rita and Ryan LeBlanc -- part of the patriarch's plan to cut-off his three heirs.

The lawsuit was filed against the original trustee, San Antonio lawyer Bobby Rosenthal, who put a hold on Tom Benson's attempt to transfer the assets.

Court records show that last month, Rosenthal gave up some of that authority. On Mach 19, Rosenthal named San Antonio lawyer Mary Rowe as his successor to oversee a group of trusts Benson created in 2012, as allowed under the terms of the trusts.

Rosenthal then resigned his post on March 25, leaving Rowe to take over.

Rosenthal is still trustee over other trusts created in 2009 that hold interests in the Saints and other property, according to court records.

Rowe and Rosenthal could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday (April 30).

As a new trustee, Rowe is now also a defendant in Tom Benson's lawsuit over the trusts. U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo granted a motion by Benson to add Rowe as a defendant earlier this week.

Rowe is a partner with the Kreager Law Firm in San Antonio. According to a biography on the firm's website, Rowe grew up on a farm in Blanco County, Texas, where Rita and Ryan LeBlanc spent their childhoods at a family ranch near Johnson City.

Benson wants a judge to force trustees to let him take back stock in the teams and related assets in exchange for $556 million in promissory notes, real estate and $94 million in forgiven debt.

In January, Rosenthal said the transfer could not go through until the value of the assets being exchanged could be proved equivalent. Rosenthal is a partner at a San Antonio firm that includes Stanley Rosenberg, a longtime friend and adviser to Tom Benson.

A lawyer representing Renee Benson couldn't immediately be reached for comment Thursday morning.

Paul Cordes, Tom Benson's estate attorney, said Rosenthal's resignation and Rowe's apointment "doesn't change Mr. Benson's right to do this swap of assets ... it doesn't affect his right to withdraw the assets."

Cordes said the litigation will move forward. "We're just dealing with a different person now," Cordes said.

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saintshrimp

AS much as I love Tom Benson It may be time to sell the team

Rugby Saint II

The older he get's the better he is as an owner. Leave him alone until he's totally senile.