New Haven Independent

In the bar, First Selectman Unk DaRos filed a formal ethics complaint against two Shipman & Goodwin attorneys he believes misled the public in a television infomercial they produced about the Tabor land case.

All the lawyers for the parties in the Tabor lawsuit have been summoned to Superior Court in New Haven on Feb. 22 to try to mediate the case, a process that takes place in order to prevent an appeal. The town has said it will appeal a Waterbury jury’s $12.4 million verdict. Last summer the jury found the town wrongly seized the land by eminent domain; the developer’s attorneys have been on a media campaign ever since.

Superior Court Judge Jonathan E. Silbert will once again try to settle the case. He tried but failed at the task last year. This time around the town’s players are different. There is a new first selectman, a new Representative Town Meeting (RTM) and a new town attorney. That may make a difference. The RTM, the town’s legislative body, unanimously rejected settlement efforts that would have required a dense housing development on the site.

At the 77-acre Tabor site, the town’s Board of Finance has now permitted the town to use up to $209,000 in previously appropriated funds to move forward on a plan to construct a new town public works facility at the site. The funds will go toward a schematic design, toward land tests of various kinds and to hire a company to clear between 7 and 10 acres where the public works facility will be built. The town will also clear the sewer easement section on the property.

“We are hoping to have the land clearing start within the next couple of weeks and get moving on the project,” Janice Plaziak, the town engineer, told the Eagle.

Infomercial Complaint
Overall, the major news of the week centered on DaRos’s formal actions against Jim Bergenn and Tim Hollister, the attorneys who represent New England Estates, the developer.

NEE had an option to build on the land. The option was between NEE and the owners, Thomas Santa Barbara, Jr. and Frank Perrotti, Jr. The town maintains the developer has no standing in the eminent domain land taking case because NEE did not own the land. But a Waterbury Superior Court jury thought otherwise.

DaRos sent a two-page letter asking the statewide grievance committee to investigate the conduct of Hollister and Bergenn, the Shipman & Goodwin attorneys who represent New England Estates.

The first selectman said that through the use of their promotional video, “New England Estates v. the Town of Branford,” Bergenn and Hollister have attempted “to influence the outcome” of the Tabor case by false statements, misrepresentations and misleading advertising . DaRos included with his complaint a copy of the firm’s DVD and three articles from the New Haven Independent.

DaRos said the infomercial was “an attempt to influence the outcome of these (legal) matters and to communicate directly with me and other town officials on the merits of these matters.” He asked that “all appropriate action” be taken.

Asked to respond, Hollister wrote in an email: “We will respond to any complaint as and when necessary.”

DaRos said Hollister and Bergenn misled viewer-residents in Branford and six other towns where the video aired when they permitted Duby McDowell, a well-known Connecticut journalist turned public relations person, to pose as “an independent newscaster” when “she was in the employ of either Shipman & Goodwin and their clients,” DaRos said.

Viewers were not informed of her dual roles and the underlying legal campaign against the town. She is also identified as a political analyst for WFSB on the infomercial.

The Duby-ous video has come under intense criticism. While WFSB-TV station officials acknowledged their concern and sought to have their call letters removed from the video, it does not appear that they succeeded. The scene is purposely set up to resemble a Sunday morning interview program.

Duby McDowell, LLC helped to create the video for the law firm, one of the state’s most prominent and most media savvy. Her “co-host” is Tanya Meck, former head of the West Hartford Planning and Zoning Board, and the head of her own public relations company. Her dual role is not described either. Meck played a key role in helping to deliver the Shipman & Goodwin video to the seven public access stations that make up a Comcast shoreline franchise. A number of viewers have complained to DaRos and to BCTV in Branford.

McDowell most recently appeared on WFSB-TV, Channel 3, on Super Tuesday this week, delivering political commentary on the Democratic primaries.

DaRos’s complaint centers on two aspects of Bergenn and Hollister’s conduct. The first is whether by hiring McDowell they set out to deliberately mislead residents; the second centers on their truthfulness as members of the bar.

DaRos, who consulted Branford Town Attorney William H. Clendenen, Jr., about the letter, said Bergenn and Hollister’s “behavior would appear to implicate” the “misleading communication” language of Rule 7.1., 4.1 and 4.2 of the Rules of Professional Conduct.

Michael P. Bowler, the statewide bar counsel, would not comment on the case. He did explain the first steps of the process. First his office conducts an inquiry to determine if the complaint should be forwarded to a local grievance panel. Then the panel investigates whether or not there is probable cause of misconduct to continue or whether the complaint should be summarily dismissed. Bowler said “85 percent of cases are forwarded and between 10 and 15 percent are not.” If it goes forward, another long process ensues.

Rule 7.1. says advertising shall not be false and misleading. The question is whether the video is advertising and if it is false and misleading.

Rule 4.1 and rule 4.2 center on a lawyer’s “truthfulness in his statements to others.”

The video first appeared here, a website prepared by New England Estates and the law firm. It contains the trial transcripts and exhibits. The video was eventually posted on the site, where it remains. It was later delivered to the public access television stations.

In an interview last month, McDowell conceded that an average viewer might have thought she was acting in her role as political analyst for WFSB.

“However it is pretty clear during the whole video… We needed some sort of title for everybody and that is what we came up with. But I think, I like to think that we made it very clear during the video that we referred several times to going to the website,” she said.

“And I would have to look at the video that we put together but we have mentioned at the end that this is paid for by Shipman & Goodwin, etc, etc.”

###

Sign Up for Email AlertsEmail This Story Email the Author

Your Email:

Recipient's Email:
Your Email:
Message (optional):

Your Name:
Your Email:
Message: