Tensions Are Rising In And Around The Luzerne County Courthouse

The Legal Intelligencer's Peter Hall wrote an article that can be found here concerning the rising tensions inside the Luzerne County Courthouse over the expanded investigation into uninsured and under insured motorist cases(UM/UIM).

The FBI subpoenaed about 80 case files April 2 from the Luzerne County Courthouse as part of the agency's investigation into allegations regarding a possible scheme to inflate uninsured motorist/underinsured motorist arbitration awards by having plaintiff-friendly neutral arbitrators assigned to their cases.

Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. handled 12 of the neutral arbitrator appointments -- more than any of the other nine judges on the list except Conahan and Toole.

Of the remaining 27 cases, nine were handled by former judge Ann H. Lokuta, who was removed from the bench by the Pennsylvania Court of Judicial Discipline last year for reasons unrelated to any criminal investigation; seven were handled by Judge Hugh F. Mundy; six by Judge Joseph M. Augello; two by Judge David Lupas; and one each by Judge Thomas F. Burke and President Judge Chester B. Muroski. One case on the list did not include the name of a judge assigned to handle it.

The Law Weekly first reported rumors that federal authorities were investigating alleged case fixing in UM/UIM arbitration cases in February. In the wake of that story, Muroski launched a review of the court's procedures to appoint neutral arbitrators.

Sources later confirmed the FBI's investigation was ongoing.

Well, you know you can click on the link to read the entire article. However let me highlight the following:

According to court records examined by the Law Weekly involving a selected group of 10 major auto insurance companies, plaintiffs lawyers filed petitions to appoint neutral arbitrators on 43 occasions between 1995 and 2008.

In 29 of those cases, the same six law firms represented the plaintiffs. In 13 of the 43 cases, attorneys from the same six firms, all of which market themselves as plaintiffs firms, were also appointed as neutral arbitrators. Twice, there were no records for plaintiffs attorneys. The names of the appointed arbitrators were not recorded in seven cases.

In 22 of the 43 cases, the judge was either Conahan or Ciavarella. There was no record of a judge in two of those cases.

The outcome of arbitration in which the lawyers named participated is not a public record. There is no evidence to suggest that the result of arbitration in the cases examined was improper. Nor is there anything to suggest plaintiffs law firms did anything improper to be appointed neutral arbitrators. Ciavarella and Conahan have not been charged with anything related to allegations of fixing UM/UIM cases.

Analysis: Rules Ignored In Picking Arbitrators

The Citizen's Voice features an article today written by Michael Sisak and Dave Janoski highlighting the process, or lack thereof, for picking arbitrators in the Luzerne County court system, past not present.

The Luzerne County court records subpoenaed last week by federal investigators contain evidence that some attorneys and judges skirted customary court procedures when it came to naming arbitrators in certain insurance cases, President Judge Chester B. Muroski said.

In some of the cases, judges presented with petitions to name neutral arbitrators issued orders setting up hearings on the petitions in their own courtrooms rather than in miscellaneous court, a court that decides motions in cases that have not been assigned to a particular judge for trial, Muroski said.

“There are instances in which (the notices) were changed, in that the line that usually appears listing the case with miscellaneous court was changed to allow the case to go to the judge who signed the (notice),” Muroski said.

Muroski said that in his discussions with the FBI, agents did not divulge information about “any judges under scrutiny or not under scrutiny.”

BREAKING NEWS- NEW FBI PROBE INVOLVING ARBRITRATION AWARDS

Times Leader Photo

Times Leader's Terry Morgan-Besecker is breaking news that the FBI took 87 cases involving abritration awards in Luzerne County for a new federal grand jury that will be empaneled April 7th in Scranton.

The subpoena sought all files or records relating to underinsured motorists from Jan. 1, 2002 to the present.

Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation took 79 case files dealing with the appointment of neutral arbitrators in uninsured motorist insurance cases from Luzerne County President Judge Chester Muroski's office this afternoon, Muroski said.

Muroski said the agents learned he had been collecting the files as part of the court's own review of the arbitration cases. Two agents visited him today with a subpoena requesting the documents and he complied.

In a related story the Times Leader is reporting:

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, already probing corruption at the Luzerne County Courthouse, is now investigating the Wilkes-Barre Area School District and Wilkes-Barre Area Vocational-Technical School.

The FBI on Thursday requested a list of the Wilkes-Barre Area Vocational-Technical Joint Operating Committee board members since 2005, said attorney Jack Dean, who provides legal assistance for the school.

Dean said the information was supplied, and he stressed that the request was not in the form of a subpoena.

A well-placed source said the FBI also requested Wilkes-Barre Area School Board meeting minutes from 2004 to the present and district’s teacher hiring policy.

The summer hasn't arrived but it sure is getting hot in Luzerne County.