Lawyer claims fees drained Rosa Parks' estate

by |
8) Rosa ParksPerhaps the most famous woman of the modern Civil Rights era, Rosa Parks possessed a quiet courage that literally re-energized the struggle. Refusing to give up her bus seat on December 1, 1955 to accommodate a white passenger, Parks was arrested and booked. A model citizen, as well as a card-carrying member of the NAACP who even served as secretary to the Montgomery chapter, Parks helped inspire her fellow citizens to boycott the city’s buses, making the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which introduced the world to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and ended segregation on public transportation, a pivotal chapter in the modern-era struggle for freedom and equality.After relocating to Detroit, Parks worked for Congressman John Conyers for many years as well as supported Planned Parenthood. Before her death in 2005, she co-founded the Rosa L. Parks Scholarship Foundation and the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development aimed at helping young people.(AP Photo)

DETROIT (AP) — A lawyer involved in a long-running dispute over the estate of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks claims two other lawyers piled up fees that ate away about two-thirds of the estate’s $372,000 cash value.

The Detroit Free Press reported Thursday that the financial condition of Parks’ estate was outlined in a recent filing with the Michigan Supreme Court by Steven Cohen, who represents Parks’ caretaker Elaine Steele and the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development.

Messages seeking comment were left Thursday by The Associated Press for lawyers John Chase Jr. and Melvin Jefferson Jr.

The dispute involves Parks’ relatives.

Parks was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Ala., bus to a white man. Parks died in 2005 at age 92.

___

Information from: Detroit Free Press, http://www.freep.com

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.