Lawyerly Lairs: Check Out "The Stouthouse"

Fred Fielding, the incoming White House counsel, did pretty well for himself when the Blackberry litigation was settled. His firm, Wiley Rein & Fielding, represented NTP, the patent holding company that won a $612.5 million settlement from Research in Motion, maker of the Blackberry. Wiley Rein took the case on a contingency-fee basis. Ka-ching!
But some people did even better than Fielding — like Donald Stout (at right), patent lawyer to the late inventor, Thomas Campana. Here’s an explanation of how the Blackberry spoils were divvied up:

Biggest single winner was Joletta Campana, widowed second wife and former secretary of patent-holder Thomas Campana Jr., who received one-third [of the $612.5 million,] or about $200 million. Wiley, Rein & Fielding also received $200 million, a huge sum given that in 2004 the Washington, D.C. firm’s two hundred and fifty lawyers generated about $140 million in total revenue. The final $200 million was shared by Donald Stout and some colleagues at his Alexandria-based law firm.

So how did Donald Stout spend his windfall? On real estate, of course. From Washingtonian magazine, via Wonkette, here’s an account of “The Stouthouse”:

Lawyer Donald Stout put up $6.8 million for a 15,000 square-foot Georgian on more than four acres near the Madeira School in Great Falls, VA — this after his Arlington patent-holding firm won a settlement against the makers of BlackBerry and earned him $177 million. HGTV’s Dream Builders featured the six-bedroom, ten-bath house in a segment taped before the sale.

Here are some photographs (Zillow on the left, Google Maps on the right):

WOW. This place makes the Feldsuk house look like a law school dorm. At a Tier 4 school.
For those of you who share our obsession with high-end real estate, there’s more discussion of The Stouthouse, plus links, after the jump.


Here’s a description of Donald Stout’s home, from the HGTV website:

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After a visit to the historic estate “Filoli” in Northern California, [prior owners] Arun and Cathie Batavia were inspired to build a Georgian home of their own. Located just outside Washington, DC, their house sits on four gently rolling acres, and includes beautiful gardens and mature landscapes. Cast stone porches, Vermont slate and copper roof surfaces, mahogany wood doors, and French casement windows are some of the many fine characteristics that distinguish this 15,000 square-foot brick home.

Pretty fluffy stuff. Here’s some hard data about the house, courtesy of Zillow:

Zillow’s “Zestimate” values the Stout house at just under $5 million. Of course, these “Zestimates” are (1) approximate figures and (2) not always up-to-date.
So we have no solid basis for believing that paying $6.8 million for The Stouthouse was unreasonable. But even if The Donald got fleeced to the tune of $2 million, we think he can afford it.
What Bubble? [Washingtonian / Open House via Wonkette]
The Donald II [Rod McQueen – BlackBerry Buzz]
New Georgian [HGTV – Dream Builders]
Georgian mansion, McLean, Virginia [Zillow]
Aerial view [Google Maps]

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