PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A man molested as a child by an Oregon priest is
suing three of his former attorneys, saying they gave him bad legal advice and left him with no part of a $900,000 settlement paid by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland nearly eight years ago.
In the lawsuit filed this week in Multnomah County Circuit Court, the man identified only by the initials G.B. says his former lawyers managed to claim most of the settlement - $877,000, The Oregonian reported.
That still should have left him with $23,000. But G.B. says he has not been paid a penny so far and has been living off Social Security disability payments of about $400 to $500 a month.
His complaint seeks close to $700,000, plus interest.
"He was supposed to get some compensation for what happened to him as a kid, and he didn't," said the man's new lawyer, Jack Polance.
Polance notes the lawsuit is against G.B.'s second set of attorneys, not the lawyer who initially handled the case.
Little else was disclosed about G.B., other than he's suffered a lifetime of damage because of the abuse. G.B. was abused by the Rev. Thomas Laughlin while a student at All Saints School in Portland, the lawsuit said.
Laughlin was kicked out of the priesthood in 1983 after being convicted of molesting boys
The lawsuit outlines a complicated sequence of events that it says left G.B. with next to nothing.
In 2001, G.B. hired attorney Michael "Mickey" Morey to represent him in a suit against the Archdiocese of Portland.
Morey worked on the case for more than two years, and got a $650,000 settlement offer from the archdiocese.
He continued to negotiate for a higher amount, but in July 2003, G.B. fired Morey and hired Portland attorney Frederick T. Smith.
Three days later, Smith negotiated a $900,000 settlement offer, which G.B. accepted. Smith took one-third of the settlement - or $300,000 - as his fee. But Morey believed he was due a large chunk of that fee because he'd done virtually all the work leading up to the settlement.
Smith wouldn't share.
Morey, who is now retired, said Tuesday he was willing to split legal fees for G.B.'s sexual abuse settlement with Smith, but Smith refused to negotiate.
"I worked very hard on that case for G.B. for nearly 2 1/2 years, and literally at the 11th hour and 59th minute, (Smith) comes in, settles the case and says I was entitled to zero," Morey said.
Morey sued his former client.
And in 2004, Multnomah County Judge John Wittmayer ruled Morey had "substantially performed his contractual duties" under his written fee agreement with G.B. and should get $300,000 of the settlement.
The judge also ruled G.B. must pay $72,000 in interest, Morey's costs in litigating the sexual abuse case and Morey's costs to hire an attorney to pursue what G.B. owed him.
The lawsuit filed this week claims Smith and two other attorneys - Jeffrey Boly and Jaculin Smith - gave him bad legal advice by encouraging him to fight Morey every step of the way.
The complaint states that upon advice of the three attorneys, G.B. appealed the case to the Oregon Court of Appeals and the Oregon Supreme Court. The Court of Appeals again sided with Morey, and the Supreme Court refused to rule on the case.
But both courts awarded Morey additional money for his costs.
By the time it was all over, G.B. was ordered to pay Morey $527,000 and Frederick Smith kept the $300,000 he claimed he was due.
The suit also alleges that without G.B.'s permission, Smith gave $50,000 from the settlement to the Portland French School, where Boly is listed as a member of the board of directors.
Frederick Smith and Boly did not return calls Tuesday seeking comment. Jaculin Smith could not be reached.
suing three of his former attorneys, saying they gave him bad legal advice and left him with no part of a $900,000 settlement paid by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland nearly eight years ago.In the lawsuit filed this week in Multnomah County Circuit Court, the man identified only by the initials G.B. says his former lawyers managed to claim most of the settlement - $877,000, The Oregonian reported.
That still should have left him with $23,000. But G.B. says he has not been paid a penny so far and has been living off Social Security disability payments of about $400 to $500 a month.
His complaint seeks close to $700,000, plus interest.
"He was supposed to get some compensation for what happened to him as a kid, and he didn't," said the man's new lawyer, Jack Polance.
Polance notes the lawsuit is against G.B.'s second set of attorneys, not the lawyer who initially handled the case.
Little else was disclosed about G.B., other than he's suffered a lifetime of damage because of the abuse. G.B. was abused by the Rev. Thomas Laughlin while a student at All Saints School in Portland, the lawsuit said.
Laughlin was kicked out of the priesthood in 1983 after being convicted of molesting boys
The lawsuit outlines a complicated sequence of events that it says left G.B. with next to nothing.
In 2001, G.B. hired attorney Michael "Mickey" Morey to represent him in a suit against the Archdiocese of Portland.
Morey worked on the case for more than two years, and got a $650,000 settlement offer from the archdiocese.
He continued to negotiate for a higher amount, but in July 2003, G.B. fired Morey and hired Portland attorney Frederick T. Smith.
Three days later, Smith negotiated a $900,000 settlement offer, which G.B. accepted. Smith took one-third of the settlement - or $300,000 - as his fee. But Morey believed he was due a large chunk of that fee because he'd done virtually all the work leading up to the settlement.
Smith wouldn't share.
Morey, who is now retired, said Tuesday he was willing to split legal fees for G.B.'s sexual abuse settlement with Smith, but Smith refused to negotiate.
"I worked very hard on that case for G.B. for nearly 2 1/2 years, and literally at the 11th hour and 59th minute, (Smith) comes in, settles the case and says I was entitled to zero," Morey said.
Morey sued his former client.
And in 2004, Multnomah County Judge John Wittmayer ruled Morey had "substantially performed his contractual duties" under his written fee agreement with G.B. and should get $300,000 of the settlement.
The judge also ruled G.B. must pay $72,000 in interest, Morey's costs in litigating the sexual abuse case and Morey's costs to hire an attorney to pursue what G.B. owed him.
The lawsuit filed this week claims Smith and two other attorneys - Jeffrey Boly and Jaculin Smith - gave him bad legal advice by encouraging him to fight Morey every step of the way.
The complaint states that upon advice of the three attorneys, G.B. appealed the case to the Oregon Court of Appeals and the Oregon Supreme Court. The Court of Appeals again sided with Morey, and the Supreme Court refused to rule on the case.
But both courts awarded Morey additional money for his costs.
By the time it was all over, G.B. was ordered to pay Morey $527,000 and Frederick Smith kept the $300,000 he claimed he was due.
The suit also alleges that without G.B.'s permission, Smith gave $50,000 from the settlement to the Portland French School, where Boly is listed as a member of the board of directors.
Frederick Smith and Boly did not return calls Tuesday seeking comment. Jaculin Smith could not be reached.
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