New Accountant for Winnie the Pooh Case

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled that a new independent accountant must review Walt Disney Co. records before proceedings continue in the 11-year dispute over Winnie the Pooh merchandise royalties.

This year, Judge Ernest M. Hiroshige threw out a previous accountant’s findings about how much Disney owed Shirley Slesinger Lasswell and her daughter Patricia Slesinger because of bias concerns.

The judge had devised his own formula but Disney lawyers alleged that method would wrongly require Disney to pay about $200 million. Hiroshige on Friday set aside his formula and said he would wait for recommendations from a new accountant. The ruling probably will delay the long-awaited trial, which was scheduled for March.

Meg James