HARRISBURG – The Superior Court of Pennsylvania has vacated a judgment in favor of Spector Gadon & Rosen P.C. in a financial dispute between it and another law firm.
The Superior Court ordered a lower court to rule in favor of defendants Rudinsky, Orso & Lynch and Joseph Orso III in the conversion case. Spector Gadon & Rosen sued Rudinsky, Orso & Lynch and Orso for money it said it was owed after a judgment on a separate case.
Mark Hazelton hired Spector Gadon & Rosen to help him sue Shell Energy Holding GP LLC. Their contract said that Spector Gadon & Rosen would first get money Shell Energy paid for a settlement or a judgment against it, and Hazelton would get the remaining amount, minus expenses and fees.
Orso stepped in as Hazelton’s legal team before Hazelton and Shell Energy entered a settlement agreement of $210,000. Orso paid Rudinsky, Orso & Lynch $4,200, and $191,766.13 to Hazelton, and the rest to Hazelton’s landlord.
Spector Gadon & Rosen sued Hazelton for not paying it for the time it represented Hazelton. Spector Gadon & Rosen won $68,660.35 but Hazelton has yet to make good on it.
Spector Gadon & Rosen then sued Rudinsky, Orso & Lynch and Orso for alleged conversion. Spector Gadon & Rosen was awarded $68,660.35 and Rudinsky, Orso & Lynch filed a motion for a new trial, which was denied, subsequently leading to the appeal.
“SGR did nothing that legally protected its right to recover from another attorney handling the case,” wrote Judge VIctor Stabile in his April 7 ruling. President Judge Emeritus John Bender and Mary Murray concurred.
The judges pointed out that Hazelton was the party who owed Spector Gadon & Rosen, as that’s the company that retained Spector Gadon & Rosen in the case in question. The judges drew the analogy that Spector Gadon & Rosen pointing the finger at Rudinsky, Orso & Lynch is similar to accusing the defendants of knowing that Hazelton wouldn’t pay Spector Gadon & Rosen for its services.
“We find no authority imposing such a duty,” wrote Judge Stabile as the judges also pointed out that Rudinsky, Orso & Lynch compensated Hazelton with money that it owed Spector Gadon & Rosen.
Superior Court of Pennsylvania case number 3661 EDA 2018