Lawyer files Chapter 7 to avoid paying Toledo Blade $200K

Nice. Continue contributing to the image of your profession, buddy.<blockquote>One of the area attorneys who unsuccessfully sued The Blade in 1990 alleging libel and invasion of privacy has filed for bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Toledo in an apparent attempt to skirt attorney fees owed to the newspaper.

George C. Rogers of Napoleon, Ohio, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Oct. 9, the day before he was scheduled to file an additional briefing in Lucas County Common Pleas Court concerning the money owed to The Blade. . . .

The largest debt listed is to The Blade in the amount of $200,000.

When reached in his Napoleon office, Mr. Rogers said he had no comment about his decision to file bankruptcy.

Mr. Rogers and fellow attorney James Godbey sued The Blade on behalf of 10 Toledo police officers and two civilians who claimed they were wronged by the newspaper's 1990 investigative series “The Secret Files of Internal Affairs.”

The series, which ran for eight days in June, 1990, detailed reports of police misconduct.

The lawsuit was dismissed July 8, 1997, by Judge William Skow, now deceased, who was on the Common Pleas Court bench at the time. In a 163-page decision, Judge Skow ruled that The Blade legally obtained and used public records for its series and that the information was reported accurately.

He also attacked Mr. Godbey and Mr. Rogers, citing “the lazy, shabby, inexcusably negligent and untrustworthy nature of the research and briefing done by plaintiffs' counsel in this case.”

As part of that case, Judge Skow ruled that the attorneys violated court rules during the discovery portion of the lawsuit and ordered the two men to pay $18,981 in sanctions.

According to court records, those sanctions were noted as paid in full as of July, 2000.</blockquote>http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091027/NEWS02/910279997

 

Wow, I am just stunned he took that action. Yeah, right. Tort reform, we need you now.