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July 2, 2008

Slusser family attorneys want to make $3.4M judgment final

They seek to have court deny law firm’s petition requesting ruling reversal.

By Sheena Delazio sdelazio@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
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WILKES-BARRE – Attorneys for the Slusser family have asked Luzerne County Court to deny a petition filed by attorneys for Laputka, Bayless, Ecker and Cohn that seeks to overturn a $3.4 million legal malpractice judgment against the law firm.

In court papers filed Monday, attorneys Stephen Seach and Jonathan Lang of the Robert Powell law firm said that state law orders the judgment should stand.

Because the petition “lacks merit” court papers said, the judgment should be final and “not be subject to reconsideration,” according to state law.

The case has since been sent to the state Supreme Court, which will assign a judge outside Luzerne County to hear any further matters in the case. Court Administrator William Sharkey filed papers last week asking for the move.

A spokesman for the state Supreme Court said a judge has not yet been assigned.

The Slusser family sued the Laputka firm in 2000, alleging the firm was negligent in its handling of its estate.

In February, a jury awarded Bernadette Slusser, executor of the estate of Thomas Slusser, $3.4 million.

The ongoing civil case has received much attention since Philadelphia attorney Jeffrey B. McCarron of Philadelphia accused Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judge Mark Ciavarella of having a conflict of interest in the case.

McCarron said Ciavarella’s financial relationship with a company partly owned by Luzerne County Prothonotary Jill Moran, an attorney with the Powell law firm, calls into question his ability to impartially rule on the case.

Ciavarella has since recused himself from the case.

Lang filed a motion June 16 asking for an order forcing the Laputka firm to pay the $3.4 million verdict. Moran signed the judgment on June 17. McCarron filed an emergency petition recently seeking to open or strike the judgment.

Ciavarella and Moran each have a financial interest in W-Cat Inc., a real estate development company that is building a multimillion-dollar townhouse project in Wright Township.

In a motion filed June 13, McCarron argued the relationship between Ciavarella and Moran, who co-signed the original lawsuit as a partner with the Powell firm, “at a minimum, created the appearance of bias.”

Sheena Delazio, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 970-7235.

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