A legal fight over the estate of deceased super-attorney Brian Loncar that pits County Judge Clay Jenkins against a longtime Loncar employee turned even nastier in state court Tuesday.

Accusations and counter-accusations flew over a previously undisclosed fund valued at some $1 million. The fund, held by an Illinois-based corporation called KMA Capital, was apparently used to collect fees owed to Loncar's firm from other lawyers.

Through his attorneys, Jenkins accused Loncar's longtime chief financial officer, Toby Toudouze, of hiding information about funds Loncar had tied up in KMA. Jenkins' representatives want to question Toudouze under oath about the fund as well as other assets in the Loncar estate.

Jenkins was a close friend of Loncar's, before Loncar's death last year of a cocaine overdose. He died one week after his teenage daughter, Grace, committed suicide in their Highland Park home.

Toudouze has alleged in court filings that Jenkins has abused his position as the estate's executor. He accuses Jenkins of trying to enrich himself by taking over operations of Loncar's profitable high-volume personal injury law firm.

Jenkins has run Loncar's firm since his friend's death. Toudouze says Jenkins fired him as CFO without cause.

Dallas County Probate Court Judge Brenda Thompson has not ruled on whether to allow Jenkins' lawyers to depose Toudouze, something they say is crucial to handling the estate.

"There remain open questions that only Mr. Toudouze is in a position to answer," said Carrie Hoffman, an attorney for Jenkins. "He's been seen taking boxes from the law firm before he departed."

In response, Toudouze's attorney said Jenkins knew more than anyone else about the KMA fund. For years, Loncar would refer cases to Jenkins' law firm and they would negotiate a division of the attorney fees. Toudouze's lawyer, Larry Friedman, filed copies of two checks that showed payments from Jenkins' law firm to KMA Capital for $170,000 and $90,623 on separate days in December 2012 — money Friedman said was for referral fees.

A billboard for attorney Brian Loncar along Interstate 30 near Commerce Street on April 10, 2017, months after his death. (Rose Baca / Staff Photographer)

Jenkins' attorneys said the KMA fund was used to collect referral fees paid to Loncar from fellow lawyers.

Friedman answered that it is Jenkins, not Toudouze, who needs to be questioned under oath.

"I've become the repository of bad acts by Mr. Jenkins," Friedman told the judge. "The better evidence, maybe the best evidence, would be to depose Mr. Jenkins, not Mr. Toudouze."

The KMA account was discovered after Loncar's death, according to Loncar's stepson, David Long. Long said he learned from attorneys involved in the estate that the account was worth about $1 million. Long thought the KMA money was likely a way for Loncar to invest in other businesses such as a hair salon, a restaurant and a car dealership.

But the payments from Jenkins' law firm to KMA raised questions, Long said, adding that it's unclear why the referral money was paid to KMA instead of directly to Loncar & Associates.

Loncar's longtime accountant, Michael Press, is listed as KMA's director. Press did not return calls seeking comment.

"Nobody really seems to have a clear-cut answer for what KMA did," Long said. "There are a lot of questions around KMA and not really any answers."