Sep. 27--The Perot family is in line to snare $1 billion by selling Perot Systems Corp. to Dell Inc. -- a balm for one of Dallas' wealthiest families after a year of bruising setbacks.

In April, Ross Perot Jr.'s real estate development company agreed to give up its stake in Victory project buildings surrounding American Airlines Center, although it continues to operate and manage Victory.

Three months later, he sued fellow Dallas billionaire Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, over profit from American Airlines Center.

In the suit, Perot accused Cuban of wrongfully diverting millions of dollars in arena profit to fund the Mavs. Cuban scoffed that Perot was "desperate" from recent financial reverses and accused him of "trying to find nickels in the sofa cushion."

That all came in the aftermath of the November crash of a hedge fund led by the Perot family that had about $2.5 billion in assets at the beginning of 2008. Now the court battle over whether anyone's legally liable for the hedge fund's downfall is set to heat up.

Two lawsuits stemming from the failure of hedge fund Parkcentral Global Hub Ltd. were consolidated into one last month in federal court in Dallas.

In it, three outside investors in the fund allege that Perot family investment entities and two advisers "recklessly and grossly" neglected their management duties even as they pocketed hundreds of millions of dollars in fees. The investors are seeking class-action status.

Defense attorneys have until next month to file a motion to dismiss the case. Barry McNeil, a lawyer defending the Perot entities, promised that his filing would be "darn persuasive."

"In my judgment, the lawsuit is just frivolous," he said.

The Perots also displayed their golden touch in 2008. Ross Perot Jr. and two partners sold natural gas properties in the Barnett Shale to Quicksilver Resources Inc. in a deal valued at $1.3 billion in July 2008.

As for the hedge fund, however, Perot family members were the largest investors in the fund, and they suffered the largest losses, a family spokesman said.

Ross Perot Jr., chairman of Plano-based Perot Systems, has said that the decision to sell the company to Dell, based in Round Rock, Texas, was unrelated to hedge fund losses or issues in the family's other ventures.

But the deal certainly doesn't hurt the family's finances. Dell's agreement to buy Perot Systems for $3.9 billion would net the family about $1 billion. That's $400 million more than the family's stake would have fetched the week before the deal was announced.