The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

October 22, 2012

Lawyer countersues former firm

By Joe Pinchot Herald Staff Writer

HERMITAGE — A Hermitage lawyer who was sued by the firm she previously worked for has countersued, saying Lewis and Ristvey has refused to turn over client files and interfered with her serving her clients.

Carolyn E. Hartle also denied that Lewis and Ristvey was unaware of her plans to go solo or that she stole clients and used Lewis and Ristvey resources to solicit work.

Lewis and Ristvey, 689 N. Hermitage Road, Hermitage, filed an eight-count complaint last month against Hartle and her law firm, Hartle Elder Law Practice, 1621 Dutch Lane, Hermitage.

Hartle said she worked as an independent contractor in the Lewis and Ristvey office from June 2002 until Jan. 1, when she was made a full-time employee, and resigned Aug. 27.

Hartle incorporated her solo firm on July 30 and leased office space at about this time, but did not disclose her intent to start a competing law firm, even when asked on two occasions prior to Aug. 27, Lewis and Ristvey said.

While still employed by Lewis and Ristvey, Hartle sent out several hundred letters to current and former Lewis and Ristvey clients informing them of her solo practice and giving them the opportunity to transfer their representation to her, the suit said.

She also contacted clients and “made false and/or misleading statements with regard to the relationship between (Lewis and Ristvey) and (Hartle) to effectuate transfer of clients,” and “confused, misled and/or coerced (Lewis and Ristvey clients) into executing the transfer forms,” the suit said.

Hartle denied the allegations and countered that she had a series of conversations with Ristvey dating back to 2011 about her displeasure with the lack of paraprofessional and clerical support, and the fact she was generating a greater percentage of overhead than some other lawyers in the office.

Under her independent contractor status, fees generated by each lawyer were given to Michael Ristvey, who applied them to office overhead and then paid the lawyer, she said.

Ristvey encouraged her to remain with Lewis and Ristvey, and even offered to make her managing attorney, an offer she declined, she said.

Hartle said she resigned Aug. 27 in a conversation with Ristvey and “stated her intention to send letters of solicitation to clients for whom she provided legal services either currently or in the past.”

Ristvey did not object to her sending the letters, or her intention to spend time in the Lewis and Ristvey office to “wrap up some matters,” including reports she said Ristvey asked her to provide, probably until mid-September, she said.

She then copied the names and contact information of clients to whom letters were sent, she said.

On Sept. 7, Hartle was summoned by David Ristvey and Douglas Watson to a conference room in which a Hermitage policeman waited, she said. She was told to leave the premises and was not permitted to take any personal property other than her purse, keys and a checkbook, she said.

Lewis and Ristvey wrote her a letter dated Sept. 28 informing her it would not turn over to her files except under certain conditions, she said.

She called the refusal to turn over files “illegal” and “unethical.”

In her five-count counterclaim, Hartle is seeking files of clients who want to be represented by her, wages she says are owed to her and unspecified “sums.”

Text Only
Local News
  • 1 killed in 2-vehicle crash

    A 73-year-old Sharon woman was killed Monday afternoon when the SUV in which she was riding was hit broadside at state routes 7 and 82 in Brookfield, according to Ohio Highway Patrol.

    June 18, 2013

  • Grim scene 2 killed in morning blaze

    Two people are dead after an early-morning fire in Grove City. The fire at about 3:15 a.m. Monday apparently killed a man and a woman inside the house at 432 McConnell St., police said.

    June 18, 2013 1 Photo

  • Man jumped in Sharon, stabs one of his attackers

    The intended victim of an early-morning robbery stabbed one of his attackers just after 5 a.m. Monday on Jennyburg Hill in Sharon. Four men looking for money confronted the 20-year-old man who was walking along Prindle Street near Walnut Street above the Shenango Valley Freeway, police Chief Mike Menster said.

    June 18, 2013

  • Adams-King resigns post

    Sharon City School Board on Monday accepted the resignation of the Rev. Lora Adams-King as a school board member effective immediately.

    June 18, 2013

  • Argenziano: I’m guilty

    The man accused of a savage June 7, 2012, attack on a Sharon woman that left her dead pleaded guilty Monday to third-degree murder charges.

    June 18, 2013

  • Paving of 3 streets approved

    New Wilmington will replace the municipal building roof and pave three streets this summer.
    Council awarded a $42,312 contract for the roof job to CBF Contracting of Sligo, Pa. CBF was the third-lowest bidder, but was the lowest bidder that met all requirements, according to Larry Wagner, council president.

    June 17, 2013

  • Farrell goes high-tech New tech for an old city

    Farrell Code Officer Mark Yerskey and his lieutenant Jonathan Laird were in their offices Wednesday afternoon, but they weren’t chained to their desks completing paperwork.

    June 17, 2013 1 Photo

  • Lawsuit cost district $70,000

    Jamestown Area School District and its insurer paid $70,000 to settle a lawsuit that a bus driver was wrongly fired because of an old drug conviction.

    June 16, 2013

  • choicehomes061613 City now boasts ‘1st-class’ homes

    There’s a new “choice” location to live on the Farrell hillside, and by all accounts it’s a positive turn for the city that’s weathered its share of tough times.

    June 16, 2013 1 Photo

  • buhlfarmswans Swan song

    Two adult swans who have lived at Buhl Farm park in Hermitage for many years were hit by a pickup and killed at 5:45 a.m. Saturday on Forker Boulevard, said park General Manager Patrick D. O’Mahony.

    June 16, 2013 1 Photo