Serena Williams’ stepmother abandoned by lawyers and saddled with huge debt as she held on to King Richard’s marriage and crumbling family

Serena Williams’ former stripper stepmother abandoned by her divorce lawyer and slapped with a lien for unpaid fees as she desperately tries to hold on to her marriage to ‘King Richard’ and the tennis ace’s childhood home .

Former nightclub dancer Lakeisha Williams, 45, has been dumped by lawyers representing her in her seven-year divorce battle with tennis coach Richard Williams, 81 .

Richard filed for divorce in 2017 after he learned that his wife had allegedly forged his signature on the title deed, transferred his Palm Beach house into her name, and asked lender David Simon She took out a $279,000 mortgage, only to blow it on a disastrous trucking business.

Frail Richard, who has suffered two strokes and suffers from dementia, and his son Chavoita Lesane learned she had allegedly sold his car and cashed it out behind his back. His Social Security check.

Lakeisha claimed in court documents that this was because Richard starved her and their 12-year-old son, Dylan.

Only a third Chapter 13 bankruptcy filing kept the four-bed mansion from foreclosure, as Simon had sued her for repayment of his loan, which at one point exceeded $620,000, Includes interest and attorney fees.

To further complicate matters, her divorce attorney (whose last name is Lawrence but whose first name is unknown) has now filed a motion to withdraw and a motion for attorney garnishment lien.

This occurs when a client does not pay, so the attorney receives an interest in a court judgment to recover the money they are owed.

This could mean that Lakeisha’s attorney fees are paid out of any fees she receives from the divorce settlement.

Lawrence isn’t the first to dump Lakeisha, her original lawyer in the Simon Richard Wolfe case, with Drew citing “irreconcilable differences.”

“It would be inappropriate for the undersigned to continue to represent the defendants,” he said in his June 2021 motion to withdraw.

It appears to have taken Lakeisha more than a year to find a replacement, and in the meantime, she’s resorted to filing her own documents pleading with a judge to stop Richard’s former home from being foreclosed on by tennis star Cere Na grew up there.

In August 2022, Craig Sackler announced to the court that he was Lakeisha’s new lawyer

Wolfe, who specializes in entertainment law, and divorce specialist attorney Sandy Becher are also representing Lakeisha in her divorce case before Lawrence.

But they only lasted for a year before asking to quit for unknown reasons in April 2018.

Including the insolvency experts Lakeisha hired – Elias Dsouza and Megan Widmeyer of Get Liquid Funding LLC – the firm’s headcount has grown to six since the two legal cases began in 2017.

Just months before all this court drama, Richard told Palm Beach Family Court in an affidavit that he wanted to move forward with his divorce, which had been dragging on for years.

Lakeisha seems to want them to stay together though, posting two photos on her Instagram last May showing them posing arm-in-arm with Dylan while driving on holiday.

Richard and Lakeisha met at a club in Miami where she was a dancer.

Richard and son Chavoita, who has power of attorney from their father, claimed in an exclusive interview with The Sun last year that his fraud extended to cashing Social Security checks and stealing his car, Lakesha said in court testimony Admitted selling a Bluebird RV because Richard failed to leave food for her and Dylan.

“I don’t remember how long the relationship lasted, and my dad started having financial problems, like, ‘What happened to my Social Security check?'” Chavoita said.

“Lakeisha took the Mercedes, she took the bus, she took the money and what else? The motorcycle.

“She stole a lot of things or forged documents for him. This is considered elder abuse.

“We just put it all together and it’s a lot. The whole situation is frustrating.”