John Halpern was the solicitor who acted on behalf of the late Ted Sullivan. Ted's widow Rita attended Mr Halpern's offices along with Ted's sister Sarah Brookes and her family for the will-reading in September 1992. The Brookes' were outraged that they had received a considerably smaller financial recompense than Rita - who was then accused by Ted's brother-in-law Philip of only marrying Ted for his money. Mr Halpern managed to successfully calm the situation and informed the Brookes' that there were certain "courses of action" which could be taken if they were of the mind that they had been treated unfairly and had reasonable grounds for objection.