LA Times Provides Update on UCLA Japanese Garden

Today's LA Times carries a lengthy update on the litigation over UCLA's Hannah Carter Japanese Garden. Blog readers will know that UCLA closed the garden - located in Bel Air - and attempted to sell it over the objections of members of the family of Edward Carter, former chair of the Board of Regents, who gave it to the university.

...The garden was donated by Edward W. Carter, a former UC regent, and his second wife, Hannah Locke Carter, under a 1964 agreement that the university would maintain it in perpetuity. In 1982, the parties agreed that proceeds from the sale of the Carters' house would be used to fund certain endowments and professorships.

...Despite four mediation sessions, the most recent in November, the two sides have failed to come to terms. But, with the case expected to go to trial this summer in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Santa Monica, some of those involved say the family members and the university could yet resolve their differences. "A settlement is always on the table," said Craig de Recat, an attorney for the Regents of the University of California, which owns UCLA and pays its bills...

"I am optimistic that we will ultimately reach a settlement between now and the trial date in July," said Jim Caldwell, one of Hannah Carter's five children, who lives in Woodside in the Bay Area. "Alumni and donors want to believe in the university."

Full story at http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-ucla-japanese-garden-20150216-story.html

As with any litigation, some caution despite the optimism is advisable: