T3 tech conference partners locked in legal fight over profits

Bill Winterberg, an industry financial software expert, sued Technology Tools for Today conference co-founder Joel Bruckenstein for allegedly not paying him $229,000, which Winterberg claims is his half of the profits from last fall's T3 enterprise conference, according to a lawsuit filed on May 12. Mr. Bruckenstein and David Drucker, the original co-founders of the T3 conference and its Virtual Office News newsletter, had worked with Mr. Winterberg on the 2013 and 2014 conferences, which host software vendors and broker-dealers every fall, and, through an oral agreement, planned to split profits evenly. After Mr. Drucker said he planned to sell his 50% interest in Virtual Office News, Mr. Bruckenstein and Mr. Winterberg decided to continue on with the 2015 fall conference and split profits between themselves, the case says. According to the lawsuit, which was first reported by AdvisorHub, Mr. Winterberg never received his half after the 2015 event. Mr. Bruckenstein, who is being represented by Hamburger Law Firm, said there was no merit to the case. He referred to Mr. Winterberg as an independent contractor and said the profit number was inaccurate. "We will prevail," he said. "Anybody can file a lawsuit, but it doesn't mean that it's true." Mr. Winterberg said he was confident he and Mr. Bruckenstein would reach an amicable resolution. Mr. Bruckenstein and Mr. Drucker first approached Mr. Winterberg about speaking arrangements at the conference in 2011, the case claims. The partners started hosting events around 2005 with the T3 conference, a separate event held in February for independent and hybrid registered investment advisers. Greg Friedman, president of client relationship management software provider Junxure, a sponsor of the T3 conference, said the legal fight will not affect his support for the event. Through a spokesman, eMoney and Riskalyze would not comment on the situation other than to say they will continue to sponsor both parties. The 2016 T3 conference will be held at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas from November 2-4. Both said this case will not have an impact on their work.