Rival factions of local lawyers continue to wrestle over dueling lawsuits against West Virginia American Water Co. and Eastman Chemical Co. over their roles in the water crisis that followed the January 2014 Elk River chemical spill.
U.S. District Judge John Copenhaver held a hearing Thursday morning to consider a motion by one group of lawyers complaining that the other faction is wrongly contacting local residents and businesses who have withdrawn from a class-action case pending before Copenhaver.
Charleston lawyers Marvin Masters and Tim Bailey filed motions asking Copenhaver to block local attorney Stuart Calwell from contacting those residents and businesses, saying such contact was improper because those residents and businesses are represented by Bailey and Masters.
Bailey and Masters also complained during Thursday's hearing that an investigator working for Calwell's firm has wrongly tried to convince one of Bailey's clients - the owner of Bammy's Chili Dogs in St. Albans - to switch to Calwell's case.
"Whether this is a pattern or this is a one-off, I can't tell," Bailey told Copenhaver. Masters added, "It sounds like, to me, that's an organized plan or operation, and that's a concern."
Bailey and Masters, along with Charleston lawyer Anthony Majestro and others, are pursuing a series of lawsuits over the chemical spill through actions before the state court system's Mass Litigation Panel. But their cases are further behind in the process from the one Calwell and lawyers Kevin Thompson and Van Bunch have pending before Copenhaver in federal court.
The federal court case has already been approved by Copenhaver to proceed as a class-action on behalf of tens of thousands of residents, businesses and wage earners impacted by the loss of clean water for homes and work after the spill. A July trial date is fast approaching.
But Masters, Bailey and other lawyers in the state court suit are trying to slow down the federal case, arguing that a public notice that gave residents and businesses the right to opt-out of the class-action was improperly done. They are also hoping to push the case into a mediation session that would be overseen by the Mass Litigation Panel.
Previously, the lawyers in Calwell's federal court case have complained to Copenhaver about what they argued were improper contacts between the state court lawyers and members of the class in the federal case.
At Thursday's hearing, Calwell explained that his firm has been trying to gather information about the economic impacts of the water crisis on 6,700 local businesses, and it accidentally sent some questionnaires to some businesses that had opted out of the federal court case.
"Given the sheer number of letters that have gone out, it's not surprising that there were some errors in the cross-check," Calwell said. "These weren't sent out to try to acquire clients. We have more clients than anyone needs."
Copenhaver said that after listening to Calwell's explanation, he didn't think the matter was as serious as the written court filings from Masters and Bailey made it sound. But the judge said he would likely order a new letter sent to any opt-out businesses Calwell contacted to inform them that the letters from his firm were sent by mistake.
The judge said the state court lawyers should also provide the names and addresses of their clients so Calwell's firm can be sure not to contact them again.
Reach Ken Ward Jr. at
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