by Zach Berger
A Harrisburg law firm is firing back at a Centre County judge who is trying to remove it from a civil lawsuit.
Judge Jonathan Grine filed a lawsuit against the county government, the McShane Firm, and lawyer Theodore Tanski after the county turned over his phone records to the firm.
Some defense attorneys with cases in Centre County court have used records of text messages between judges and prosecutors to allege bias and preferential treatment in recent months.
Defense attorneys obtained phone records from Grine and magisterial judge Kelley Gillette-Walker in an attempt to show the judges were giving Parks Miller’s office special treatment.
Grine filed a complaint seeking damages and for the records to be destroyed. The court ruled the county had no right to turn over the judge’s phone records, which are considered judicial records. However, the court denied Grine’s request for the records in the McShane Firm’s possession to be destroyed.
“Because the preliminary injunction against the McShane Firm and Tanski was denied, the claim for declaratory relief asserted against them in the underlying complaint is moot,” attorneys for Grine said in a filing last Friday. “There is no reason for [them] to remain parties to this action.”
The McShane firm feels differently about its involvement in the lawsuit, and is asking to remain a part of the suit in order to try and obtain attorney fees if the case is found to have no merit.
“Although the defendants have made efforts to reach a voluntary agreement with the plaintiff to mitigate these damages, these efforts have proven fruitless thus far,” attorneys for Tanski and the firm say in a filing on Thursday. “Tanski and the McShane Firm have been unnecessarily burdened with costs and fees which would not exist but for the plaintiff’s baseless action.”
The firm says it reached out to Grine last week, asking him to reimburse the attorney fees and issue a written apology for the lawsuit. Grine denied this request, according to the filing.
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