Suit against Chesley in Catholic Sex-Abuse Case Dismissed

By Peter Smith
The Courier-Journal
January 24, 2012

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20120124/NEWS01/301240057/Suit-against-Chesley-Catholic-sex-abuse-case-dismissed?odyssey=nav|head

Embattled Cincinnati trial lawyer Stan Chesley has won a legal victory with the dismissal of two Kenton Circuit Court lawsuits that had accused him of defrauding clients in a sexual-abuse lawsuit against the Diocese of Covington.

Kenton Circuit Judge Gregory M. Bartlett, in orders filed Jan. 20, dismissed the lawsuits against Chesley, his law firm and colleague Robert Steinberg.

Bartlett said the lawsuits failed on multiple legal grounds — including that the plaintiffs missed their chance to challenge the diocese settlement while that case was still open in nearby Boone Circuit Court.

That court had closed the Diocese of Covington case in 2009 after declaring the settlement fair. The four current plaintiffs were among 252 people who shared in an $84 million settlement with the Roman Catholic diocese.

"The plaintiffs had the opportunity to object to the settlement and distribution of settlement funds before the Boone Circuit Court," Bartlett wrote.

The decision is a victory for Chesley even as he continues to fight for his professional standing over his actions in another lawsuit.

The Kentucky Supreme Court is considering a Kentucky Bar Association recommendation that Chesley be disbarred for taking excessive fees and covering up colleagues' misconduct in the $200 million settlement reached in 2001 between makers of the diet drug fen-phen and those who suffered health problems from it.

One of the Kenton Circuit Court lawsuits was filed by three clients — one of the sexual-abuse victims, Tom Cardosi; a second victim represented by a guardian, Heather Moser; and the administrator of the estate of a third, Julane Simpson.

Louisville attorney Thomas Clay, who represented the three plaintiffs, did object while the Boone Circuit case was open, but the court denied his objections, and an appeal failed.

Clay said Tuesday he was disappointed with the decision but planned to appeal it to the Court of Appeals.

"We're not going to let it go," he said.

Another victim, Christine Anderson, represented herself in a separate lawsuit.

Attorney David Sloan, representing Chesley, said the "claims were baseless, and the court so found."

Chesley's law firm said in a statement that the latest ruling upholds earlier ones declaring the diocese settlement fair.

"Similar claims by a number of the same (people) were previously dismissed by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, the Boone Circuit Court, and the Kentucky Court of Appeals," it said.

Chesley and his colleagues received an estimated $18.5 million in fees from the Diocese of Covington case, according to court documents. Clients were eligible for between $5,000 and $1 million, depending on the severity of their abuse.

The lawsuits accused Chesley and Steinberg of fraud, promising clients higher payouts than they actually received and telling them their payments would be delayed or reduced if they refused to support the attorneys' fee requests.

In his ruling, Bartlett said the clients could not attack a lawsuit settled in Boone Circuit Court; that their lawsuit was filed too late under statutes of limitations; and that they could not bring "clear and convincing evidence" of fraud.

The $84 million settlement of the Diocese of Covington lawsuit remains one of the largest made by any Roman Catholic diocese in the nation — even though the diocese represents less than half a percent of the nation's Catholic population.

And it was unusual in that it attained class-action status. A small group of plaintiffs filed suit, but the settlement was open to anyone sexually abused by a priest or anyone else associated with the church before Oct. 21, 2003.

Certifying the class-action status was former Judge Joseph "Jay" Bamberger. He was disbarred in 2011 by the Kentucky Supreme Court for his approval of the fen-phen settlement, which put tens of millions of dollars in excessive fees in the hands of three other now-disbarred lawyers.