Erie entrepreneur Samuel P. "Pat" Black III started the litigation against his adopted daughter two years ago in an attempt to recover his fortune.

But as those cases remain pending in various courts, she has scored a legal victory against him.

And the win could cost Black some of his real estate ― including where he lives on the exclusive Niagara Pointe Drive overlooking Erie's bayfront.

An Erie County judge has ordered a Black-controlled partnership to pay more than $336,000 to a trust whose sole trustee is the Black's adoptive daughter, Sumi James-Black.

Black, 84, a biofuels pioneer, adopted James-Black in 2019, when he was 77 and she was 44. James-Black, now 51, was once the heir apparent of her adoptive father's business empire.

Judge Erin Connelly Marucci ruled in favor of James-Black on April 8. The judge ordered a judgment of $336,377 against the Black Interests Limited Partnership, payable to James-Black's SJB 2020 Inheritance Trust.

If Black's partnership does not come up with the money, James-Black's trust could execute on the judgment by forcing a sheriff's sale of real estate that the partnership owns. The portfolio includes the 3,890-square-foot house where Black lives on Niagara Pointe Drive, off the Bayfront Parkway, according to property records.

James-Black's lead lawyer, John Mizner, who also represents the SJB 2020 Inheritance Trust, said his clients are not inclined to wait to get the $336,377 ― an amount that Black's partnership was first ordered to pay by Dec. 13, according to court records.

"Pat Black, acting through Black Interests Limited Partnership, has failed to satisfy the judgment since the deadline of December 13th," Mizner said in an email on April 9. "His continued non-compliance compels us to immediately employ the full force of law to collect the outstanding amount."

Arbitration award spurred judgment

A lawyer for Black, Anthony Angelone, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Another of Black's lawyers, Gery Nietupski, did not object to the judgment at a court hearing on April 7, though he raised concerns about the calculation of the final amount.

The hearing was before Connelly Marucci. It was on Mizner's request that she enter the judgment.

Mizner asked for the judgment to enforce an arbitrator's ruling that the Black Interests Limited Partnership owes $334,395 to the SJB 2020 Inheritance Trust.

The trust in October 2024 filed a complaint in arbitration over claims that the partnership violated an agreement with the trust.

The trust claimed the breach occurred after Black fired James-Black in August 2022 as the interim CEO and chief operating officer of Black's Erie Management Group. Its holdings include the Hero BX biofuels plant on East Lake Road in Erie, a property now in court-approved receivership and for sale.

Black claimed he fired James-Black after finding out that she defrauded him. James-Black denies the claims.

In the arbitration case, James-Black's trust claimed Black's partnership failed to provide financial documents to the trust, according to court records. James-Black's trust also claimed the partnership failed to distribute funds to the trust.

An arbitrator ruled on Nov. 13 that Black's partnership had to pay the trust $334,395 within 30 days, according to a petition the trust filed in Erie County Common Pleas Court on Dec. 2. Mizner in the petition asked a judge to enter a judgment against the Black Interests Limited Partnership in the amount of $334,395, plus attorney's fees.

Connelly Marucci settled on the final amount of $336,377 in her judgment order on April 8.

A massive federal lawsuit and competency concerns

The court fight over the arbitration award is one element of the protracted litigation involving Black and James-Black. The relationship between the two collapsed when he fired her in 2022.

Black launched the litigation by suing James-Black in 2024 in U.S. District Court in Erie. Black claimed James-Black and two other defendants, including the Erie law firm of Knox, McLaughlin, Gornall & Sennett, formed a civil conspiracy to defraud him of $200 million from 2017-22.

The defendants called the case meritless. U.S. District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter dismissed the case's federal claims in February. Black is appealing the decision.

James-Black has countered with litigation of her own.

She asked a judge in Erie County Orphans' Court in October to order Black to undergo an exam of his mental competency. Through Mizner, James-Black said the exam would help determine whether Black is mentally fit to pursue the litigation against her and whether a judge should appoint a guardian to manage his financial affairs.

Black on March 26 agreed to undergo the exam at a later date.

The review of his mental capacity has paused most of the litigation. The arbitration and judgment case is an exception.

Original Article by: Ed Palattella at epalattella@usatodayco.com or 814-870-1813.