Frank Danyi, RIP

Last Monday, Bethlehem Township's Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to honor Frank Danyi for his 44 years of service as Solicitor to the Township Municipal Authority. Frank also represented the Board at one point in a long and distinguished legal career. President Mike Hudak expressed some regret that Frank was unavailable to be recognized personally, and I assumed he was enjoying himself on the beach, as many do at this time of year. Unfortunately and unknown to me, Frank was dying, and passed away on Saturday.

I remember Frank, both from my days of practicing law and later, as a title searcher. He sent his son Kevin to search titles, but Frank had an active real estate practice and was in the Recorder's office often. He was always a fastidious dresser but was known mostly for his easy humor. He was always full of jokes, and for some reason, liked to hand out stickers to the searchers. He always looked on the bright side of things.

He was always classy, always gentlemanly, and I will miss this happy litigator.  

You can read Frank's obituary here.

How to Snag a Disciplinary Complaint

According to a Morning Call account, Attorney Donald Corriere spent at least $50,000 owed to Randi Ratushny after her mother passed away. What I find interesting is what happened to Randi Ratushny's money.

She, along with her sister, are the two people who complained to the Disciplinary Board and got the ball rolling.

She passed away in 2012, leaving a will that left everything to her sister, Robin Thomas. But Ratushny's boyfriend stepped forward with a new will, claiming that he was the rightful heir. This Will was executed just two months after the first one, and Michael Corriere testified that Ratushny really intended to devise her estate to her boyfriend. Judges bought this argument, on both the County and Superior Court level.

That estate was worth $87,836.40. But $61,752.13 was gobbled up in administrative fees that included

• a $5,000 payment made by Don Corriere to his malpractice insurance carrier for the deductible in a malpractice claim made by Ratushny.
• $24,822.50 in ligitation fees to Don Corriere.
• $5,832 to Michael Corriere as the Estate attorney.

There is no suggestion that any of this money was spent improperly. But a disappointed heir who sees her sister's life's savings spent on legal and administrative costs might have an ax to grind.

Gracedale Grappler Otter Gets No Att'y Fees, Says Baratta

In a ruling handed down this afternoon, Judge Baratta has denied Larry Otter's motion for $21,960 in attorney's fees from me. In fact, he has sua sponte dismissed a similar claim for $8,053.65 from County Exec John Stoffa.

In his decision, Baratta offers this observation. "[T]here is no suggestion, let alone proof, of any conduct which could be considered vexatious, in bad faith or otherwise improper. The dispute before us was clearly a bona fide legal dispute. The issues raised by the Objectors, based on the quality of their pleadings and the record they presented during the February 4, 2011 hearing, were legitimate and brought in good faith. In fact, with regard to many of their objections, Mr. O'Hare and Mr. Angle were the prevailing party. They established that thousands of signatures were invalid, either because the signatures themselves did not meet the requirements of the Election Code or there were defects related to the circulators and/or the manner in which certain petitions were circulated."

For the legal eagles among you, Baratta's decision is below. Basically, he is saying Larry otter' know better.

Baratta Denial of Otter Request For Att'y Fees

Northampton County Growing Outside Legal Costs

During a Tuesday budget hearing, Ron Angle told fellow Northampton County Council members that the cost of outside legal services are spiralling out of control. Over the course of three years (11/05 to 11/08), the county has paid $566,351.18 to just one law firm - Tallman, Hudders & Sorrentino.

Since this firm has been hired to negotiate with eleven different labor unions, that bill actually appears reasonable. But Angle has suggested the county could save money by hiring one labor law specialist to work on the county payroll. The county already employs one full-time and six part-time attorneys.