Patrick Lynch served eight years as Rhode Island’s attorney general, and once weighed a run for governor. His brother, William Lynch, chaired the state Democratic Party for more than a decade and ran for Congress.
Today, the two brothers are battling each other in court in a bitter dispute that has torn apart one of Rhode Island’s most recognizable political families.
For years, the conflict has unfolded largely outside of public view. Court records show it has since grown into a multipronged legal fight — including a defamation claim – stretching from Barrington Probate Court to the Rhode Island Supreme Court.
“This thing has mushroomed into a small war,” said Jeffrey Pine, who is Patrick Lynch’s attorney. In a very Rhode Island twist, Pine is himself a former two-term attorney general (Pine as a Republican, and Lynch as a Democrat).
At its core, the legal fight centers on a 10 percent ownership stake in Healyn Properties, a company that owns the Esmond Village housing development in Smithfield. Both the Lynch family and Dr. Philip O’Dowd held ownership interests in Healyn before O’Dowd’s death in 2013.
Court filings show the conflict grew out of O’Dowd’s estate, whose share in the company was transferred for $100 in 2018 to another brother, John Lynch — a price Patrick Lynch now argues dramatically undervalued the property. Tax records show the current value of the development is $9.8 million.
Things only get messier from there.
But first, it’s worth stepping back to understand the family at the center of it.
The Lynch name has been woven into Pawtucket’s civic life as well as its political life for decades.
Dennis M. Lynch, who raised seven children with his wife, Irene Lynch, served five terms as mayor of Pawtucket from 1973 until 1981. His name hangs over the city’s public ice rink — a building that drew statewide attention last month after a mass shooting there.
Patrick and William Lynch caught the political bug early, volunteering on their father’s mayoral campaigns as children, surrounded by the black-and-yellow campaign colors that became a signature of the Lynch political operation.
Patrick Lynch became a two-term attorney general and announced a campaign for governor in 2010, but dropped out before the primary. He still has $265,000 in his campaign account, and has not ruled out running for office again.
William Lynch was a councilman in Pawtucket, ran for mayor himself, and then became state Democratic Party chairman from 1998 until 2010, when he left the role to run for Congress.
Now the brothers are back in the public spotlight — not for a campaign, but because of a courtroom drama that has dragged family members and longtime associates into the fight as well.
The dispute has also pulled in Richard “Dick” O’Dowd, the brother of Philip O’Dowd and a coexecutor of his estate along with William Lynch. Patrick Lynch accuses them of improperly transferring the Healyn ownership stake for $100 to John Lynch, dramatically undervaluing the interest.
Stacey P. Nakasian, who represents the coexecutors, said the litigation has dragged on for years. She said O’Dowd is now in his 80s and wants to put the case behind him.
“Bill and Dick have been trying from the outset to resolve Patrick’s claim so poor Dick can go on with his life,” Nakasian said.
Patrick Lynch sees it very differently. In court filings, he argues the Healyn ownership stake could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars — potentially more — depending on the value of the Esmond Village development. He alleges the stake was improperly transferred out of the estate for far less than its true value.
William Lynch and O’Dowd counter that the ownership stake carried debts and obligations that significantly reduced its value.
What began as a probate fight over the O’Dowd estate has since expanded into multiple lawsuits and increasingly personal accusations. Appeals related to the dispute have also reached the Rhode Island Supreme Court.
In one lawsuit, Patrick Lynch accuses his brother of defaming him during the course of the dispute. The allegation stems from an account William Lynch gave in court filings about a meeting he had years earlier with Dr. Philip O’Dowd at Gregg’s restaurant in Providence.
According to those filings, O’Dowd — who was a doctor at Roger Williams Medical Center — told William Lynch that he had compiled documentation of wrongdoing involving hospital president Robert A. Urciuoli, and had previously brought that information to Patrick Lynch while he was attorney general. Federal investigators later opened a case on Urciuoli, who was ultimately sentenced to three years in prison for bribing a former state senator.
Patrick Lynch says that account falsely accuses him of criminal misconduct and violating his oath of office as the state’s top prosecutor. Pine said the timeline described in the filings does not add up. The defamation case is still pending.
The latest chapter in the family’s legal war is scheduled to play out Friday in Superior Court, where a lawsuit Patrick Lynch filed this year, accusing his brothers William and John Lynch, and Richard O’Dowd, of civil fraud and related wrongdoing tied to the Healyn transaction, is set for a hearing before Judge Brian Stern.
Lawyers for John Lynch did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
In a statement, Patrick Lynch said the litigation reflects what he described as “greed and an attempt to cover up wrongdoing.”
“In my experience, I have witnessed greed and a callous disregard of others corrupt and take hold, and I have fought against it,” Patrick Lynch said. “Never did I think it would strike so close to home.”
Whatever the courts ultimately decide, the damage inside the Lynch family may prove harder to repair.
“It’s all very sad,” Pine said. “It has split the family irreversibly.”
Dan McGowan can be reached at dan.mcgowan@globe.com. Follow him @danmcgowan.