Oregon sex abuse case lawyer faces ethics hearing
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A Salem lawyer for 15 men who sued over alleged abuse by a Catholic priest at an Oregon reform school in the 1970s faces a state bar association ethics complaint that he misled his clients about how the lawsuits were settled and the money divvied up.
The state paid about $1 million to settle the lawsuits, and the Portland Archdiocese paid about $600,000.
The men said their abuser was the Rev. Michael Sprauer, employed by the state at what is now the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn. Sprauer has denied the allegations in past court testimony. His attorneys argued the allegations were fabricated by ex-cons as part of a money-making scheme.,
The ethics complaint was initiated by an inmate, Earl New, who said he asked lawyer Dan Gatti for details of the settlements and didn't get them, according to The Salem Statesman Journal. New was among those who allege he was abused.
New is in the Snake River Correctional Institution near Ontario in Eastern Oregon on burglary, kidnapping and sodomy convictions.
The bar's complaint, filed with the Oregon Supreme Court, supports New, saying Gatti violated rules of professional conduct.
It says Gatti "had a duty to inform New and the other abuse clients" of his participation in the settlement allocations and "knowingly or intentionally" withheld that from them.
A hearing before a three-member panel is expected this summer, said bar spokeswoman Kateri Walsh.
Potential sanctions run from a public reprimand to a suspension of Gatti's law license or even disbarment, she said.
Gatti said the complaint is unfounded and he is asking for it to be dismissed.
"I'm really hopeful that when they do a deposition, their discovery, it will just go away," he said.
Gatti, 66, said he has placed his attorney work on hold as he deals with medical issues. He underwent open-heart surgery in 2009 and is dealing with complications that have required multiple surgeries.
In 2000, the state Supreme Court reprimanded Gatti for posing as a chiropractor to obtain information about medical reviews done on behalf of an insurance company, citing the bar's rule against lawyers engaging in any form of deceit.
Gatti defended the tactic as an investigative tool to expose fraud in the insurance industry.
Information from: Statesman Journal
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.