Legal action against Freeman dropped



By CAROLINE WILSON
Tuesday 17 October 2000

Cathy Freeman's post-Olympic celebrations yesterdayreceived a
filip when her former management group sought towithdraw
interim
legal action scheduled for this Friday in Melbourne's Supreme
Court.

In a move which has freed Freeman to open a new series of
sponsorship negotiations exploiting her increased
international
success and stardom, her former accountant Peter Jess and
partner
Nick Bideau are no longer seeking a restraining order
against the
Sydney Olympic 400-metres champion.

While Mr Jess and Mr Bideau are still suing Freeman for
breach of
contract, yesterday's move appears to open up the
possibility of an
out-of-court settlement despite the fact that a directions
hearing
remains scheduled for December.

Freeman, who has returned to the Kew home she shares with
American husband of one year, Sandy Bodecker, is now expected to
bring forward a scheduled holiday in North Queensland. She is also
holding interviews for a new manager.

Freeman's lawyers, Middletons Moore and Bevins, and
Queen's Counsel Jeffrey Sher had been
due to appear in the Supreme Court at 10am on October
20, a hearing postponed from July after
pressure mounted against Mr Jess and Mr Bideau's
Melbourne International Track Club to allow
Freeman to concentrate on the Olympics.

However, her lawyers still plan to counter-sue Mr
Bideau and Mr Jess in an attempt to clarify
Freeman's financial situation should the MITC's legal
action proceed.

Freeman's lawyer Peter Sinn said yesterday: "I don't
believe that Mr Jess as her former
accountant has any entitlement to any further fees from
Cathy. However, I anticipate that Mr
Bideau would have an entitlement to be paid for
services as her manager following the Atlanta
Olympics.

"There's no allegation on our behalf that there's been
a removal of funds away from Cathy
Freeman. However, they (the MITC) would want to
establish exactly where her money stands as
it is a complicated arrangement."

Mr Sinn conceded Mr Bideau also could have further
entitlements given his long-term relationship
with Freeman which ended in 1996.

"Even in de facto relationships, however, where one
partner is earning the majority of the income
you don't have to share it 50-50," he said.

Mr Jess and Mr Bideau, who are both in Europe, sued
Freeman for breach of contract after she
severed her links with her management group on May 4
this year.

The subsequent legal claims revealed a complicated
thicket of trust companies and a management
agreement complicated by Freeman and Mr Bideau's
personal relationship.

At the public height of the dispute in early July, Mr
Jess claimed the entire $3.4 million Freeman
had generated since January 1997 had been paid to her
or to Catherine Freeman Enterprises, a
company she formed with Mr Bideau. Mr Jess said an
average of $20,000 a month was paid to
"feed her credit card" while Mr Bideau drew between
$38,000 and $40,000 a year.

However, Freeman's legal advisers believe Mr Bideau is
entitled to no more than 15 per cent of
her earnings following the Atlanta Olympics.