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Luzerne County Children and Youth fiscal problems discussed

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White House suspends pass of CNN’s Acosta

<p>Former attorney Robert Powell has asked a federal judge to order opposing legal counsel in the &#8220;Kids for Cash&#8221; litigation to pay an expert hired to calculate Powell&#8217;s net worth, according to a new court filing.</p><p>Powell had paid the 1,800 juvenile and parent plaintiffs $4.75 million as part of a 2015 court-approved master settlement agreement, called an &#8220;MSA&#8221; in court documents, that also said he could owe up to $2.75 million more based on his net worth.</p><p>Thomas Pratt, of Pittsburgh, was retained to calculate Powell&#8217;s worth because the plaintiffs immediately rejected Powell&#8217;s January 2017 estimate that he has a negative net worth exempting him from paying more.</p><p>Pratt&#8217;s report, issued in February, concluded that Powell&#8217;s net worth was negative, which means liabilities exceeded assets, said the new filing by Powell&#8217;s attorney, Stephen S. Stallings of Pittsburgh. The net worth had to be more than $4.75 million to trigger a second payment obligation, it said.</p><p>&#8220;Plaintiffs&#8217; counsel were solely responsible for Mr. Pratt and his firm performing this work, and then when they did not obtain the results they had hoped for, they essentially stiffed him, refusing to pay his fees and costs as required by the MSA,&#8221; the filing said.</p><p>According to the filing:</p><p>Under the settlement, the $4.75 million already paid by Powell in 2015 was to be deposited into a &#8220;cash settlement fund&#8221; that would cover administrative settlement costs, including all net worth professional fees.</p><p>Pratt, of Schneider Downs &amp; Co., has submitted invoices for $97,777 in incurred fees to date but has only received payment of $38,547, which would leave an unpaid balance of $59,230. Additional bills are possible.</p><p>Plaintiffs&#8217; counsel advised Pratt on Sept. 6 it would not pay the balance owed, &#8220;purportedly because the cash settlement fund was exhausted&#8221; and it believed further payments were not required by the settlement agreement.</p><p>Stallings wrote that he was forced to seek court action because he also communicated with plaintiffs&#8217; counsel, which &#8220;refused to comply with the MSA&#8217;s requirement to pay Mr. Pratt.&#8221;</p><p>A lead attorney for the plaintiffs could not immediately be reached Wednesday for comment on the filing.</p><p>The payment &#8220;breach&#8221; was &#8220;particularly troubling,&#8221; Powell&#8217;s filing asserted, because plaintiffs&#8217; counsel prompted Pratt&#8217;s hiring by challenging the net worth and asked the expert to seek &#8220;numerous, voluminous, and often irrelevant requests&#8221; for information from Powell.</p><p>A Hazleton-area native, Powell served an 18-month prison sentence for failing to report a $2.8 million kickback scheme involving former county judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella and two juvenile detention centers Powell had co-owned, court records show. The two former judges are still serving federal prison sentences.</p><p>Stallings also represents other Powell defendants, including the Powell Law Group PC and Powell&#8217;s company, Vision Holdings LLC.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Powell </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_powellcmyk.jpeg.jpg</photo0><caption0>Powell </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Ex-attorney Powell files new action related to billing in ‘Kids for Cash’ case