Law360 (September 26, 2025, 4:02 PM EDT) -- A real estate developer and his attorney have hit back at claims they should be sanctioned for allegedly submitting fake contracts as evidence they own the company that runs the Miss America pageant, asserting in a Florida federal court filing that their litigation opponents are the ones "engaging in fraud."

In a response brief filed Tuesday, developer Glenn F. Straub and attorney Craig T. Galle argued that a sanctions motion was "recklessly filed" earlier this month by Robin Fleming and several Miss America entities "wrongfully" accusing Straub and Galle "of perpetuating a fraud against plaintiffs and this court."

"The parties agree on one thing: this case is predicated on fraud," Tuesday's response says. "However, it is plaintiffs and their counsel — not defendants — that are engaging in fraud."

Straub and Galle say that Fleming, the Miss America entities and their counsel "have unequivocal knowledge that Fleming is not, and has never been, the owner" of Miss America and the related entities named as plaintiffs in the litigation.

In the sanction motion, Fleming and the Miss America entities accused Straub and his current and past attorneys of submitting fake contracts as evidence of their ownership of the company that runs the pageant.

Fleming contends she acquired the pageant and its assets from the Miss America Organization in late 2022, and that Straub and his associates were not part of the deal. On her LinkedIn profile, she lists herself as CEO/owner of Miss America.

Specifically, Straub, Galle and their former counsel submitted a pair of fake operating agreements for the Miss America companies that were passed off as copies of originals created by Straub in December 2022, the motion alleges, adding an assertion that their current counsel continues to stand by the agreements.

The motion asserts the purported operating agreements submitted to the federal court should be "null and void." Galle stripped the "fabricated documents" of metadata in April 2024, and they were then backdated to Dec. 28, 2022, the motion alleges. However, they were not "genuine, true and correct copies" of originals, Fleming and the Miss America entities asserted.

"As such, they are fraudulent," the motion says.

According to court documents, William R. Clayton, Miguel Aristizabal and Riley F. Kennedy of Clayton Trial Lawyers PLLC filed the operating agreements as part of their answer to Fleming's complaint. Clayton, Aristizabal and Kennedy asked to withdraw as counsel, and a federal judge terminated them as counsel in June.

Defendants' counsel Todd A. Levine and Terri Meyers, of Kluger Kaplan Silverman Katzen & Levine PL, withdrew the operating agreements as evidence and struck part of an amended counterclaim, according to notice filed earlier this month. The defendants have filed a counterclaim of fraud in the inducement, conversion, breach of fiduciary duty and other claims.

When asked why they withdrew the agreements and struck parts, Levine said that the new legal team for the defendants thinks "those documents and the references to them are unnecessary to the counterclaim, and we were trying to avoid unnecessary motion practice in the case."

Straub and Galle's Tuesday filing says the same, that they were withdrawn "to avoid unnecessary motion practice."

But plaintiffs and their counsel are still pushing a "spurious" sanctions motion "and have continued with their crusade to prejudice the court against Straub, Galle," Straub's business, Palm Beach Polo Inc., and one of its employees, who are also named as defendants in the litigation, Tuesday's filing argues.

Straub and Galle say the sanctions motion is "improper and meritless," and are asking the court to instead impose sanctions on Fleming, the Miss America entities and their counsel for "bad faith and vexatious litigation tactics." They ask for attorney fees and other sanctions.

Fleming and the Miss America entities filed the $500 million racketeering suit in November 2024, accusing Straub of fraudulently pushing the organization into bankruptcy in an effort to take over its assets. The parties had battled over the ownership issue in bankruptcy court on the day before Fleming filed suit.

In Febraury, U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks denied the bulk of Straub and the other defendants' attempt to escape a fraud and racketeering lawsuit.

In April, Judge Middlebrooks rejected Straub and his associates' motion to have Carlton Fields disqualified from representing Fleming and the Miss America entities.

Counsel for Fleming and the other plaintiffs declined to comment beyond their motion.

Counsel for the Straub, Galle and the other defendants didn't immediately respond Friday to a request for comment.

Robin Fleming, Miss America IP Inc., Miss America's Scholarship Foundation Inc. and MAO IP Holding Co. LLC are represented by Gene Rossi, Justin L. Chretien and Bruce J. Berman of Carlton Fields, and Benjamin G. Chew, Camille M. Vasquez and Jessica N. Meyers of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP.

Straub, Galle, Palm Beach Polo Inc. and Kathleen A. Fialco are represented by Todd A. Levine and Terri Ellen Tuchman Meyers of Kluger Kaplan Silverman Katzen & Levine PL.

The case is Fleming et al. v. Straub et al., case number 9:24-cv-81507, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

–Additional reporting by Tom Lotshaw, Carolina Bolado, David Minsky and Emily Johnson. Editing by Amy French.

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