CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A former employee of Kisling, Nestico & Redick who provided information to a lawyer litigating a fraud lawsuit against the firm denied seeing any instances in which he saw any lawyer at the personal-injury firm violated Ohio's rules governing attorney ethics.

Robert Horton, who started at the Fairlawn-based personal injury firm in February 2012 and left in March 2015, wrote in an affidavit that he was not aware of any payments made to KNR by a third-party vendor that could be construed as a "kickback." He also wrote in the Aug. 8 affidavit that he "did not personally observe any violations of the Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct."

It says that while he has been referred to as a "whistleblower," Horton does not consider himself one.

(You can read the affidavit here or at the bottom of this story.)

Horton is a central figure in a lawsuit brought against the personal injury firm whose advertisements and the slogan, "Hurt in a car ... Call KNR!"" are ubiquitous to anyone in northeast Ohio.

In it, three former clients accuse KNR of participating in an illegal kickback scheme with chiropractor clinics, fraudulently charging customers for investigations that never occurred and directing customers to take high-interest loans from an outside company. KNR has vigorously denied the allegations and filed a counterclaim against the former clients.

The affidavit was signed about a month before KNR agreed to drop a separate lawsuit it filed against Horton that accused him of violating a confidentiality agreement when he downloaded files and gave them to Peter Pattakos, an Akron attorney who filed the fraud lawsuit against KNR.

Horton agreed to turn over all documents he took from KNR and the judge and to destroy any copies he still has in his possession, according to the affidavit. He also agreed to not disseminate it. Court records indicate that he followed his promise.

Pattakos said in an interview Tuesday that the lawsuit against Horton and the affidavit "is the product of KNR's effort to intimidate and bully him." He said the affidavit was "carefully worded" and that Horton will testify in court that the allegations described in the lawsuit are true.

James Popson, an attorney representing KNR, firmly denied that KNR's counsel engaged in bullying or intimidation tactics. He said Horton was represented by his own attorney and signed the affidavit "because it's the truth."

"If it's carefully worded, that's his opinion," Popson continued, referring to Pattakos' statement. "It is improper for Mr. Pattakos to suggest that any lawyers representing KNR engage in unethical conduct when he has no evidence of that occurring, and it's false."

Messages left for Horton, who now works at the Slater and Zurz law firm, and the lawyer representing him in the KNR lawsuit did not return voicemails.

Horton wrote that he represented more than 1,000 clients and that they were not always treated by a chiropractor. He said he obtained approval from clients before deducting fees and costs from settlement proceeds.

"I am not aware of any attorney, owner, or other employee of KNR conspiring with any chiropractors or any other third party vendors to inflate billings," the affidavit says.

Also on Tuesday afternoon, Summit County Common Pleas Judge Alison Breaux made clear exactly what will be sealed in the case going forward. Breaux previously sealed the case and issued a gag order -- a move fought by cleveland.com as unfairly restricting access to the courts -- but opened up the docket and withdrew the order on Friday.

Her new restrictions are as follows: all exhibits attached to court documents filed prior to Friday will be restricted from public view on the county clerk's office website. The exhibits can be viewed in person at the clerk's office, said Catherine Loya, Breaux's staff attorney.

The actual court documents -- which include motions -- can still be viewed online, Loya said.

Breaux's decision led the clerk's office to open up nearly the entire docket for public view. This drew concern from KNR, and an attorney wrote in an email to Loya on Tuesday morning that "there are still confidential documents (e.g., the identity of KNR's clients) that are part of the documents previously filed that need the protection of the Gag Order." Pattakos forwarded the emails to cleveland.com.

Pattakos argued KNR's attempt to restrict access to the docket is at odds with a statement managing partner Rob Nestico made to cleveland.com Monday that he was "relieved that the judge lifted the gag order, because the public needs to know the truth."

NOTE: Cleveland.com is represented in challenging the judge's sealing order by attorney Patrick Kabat, who works at the Chandra Law Firm. Pattakos previously worked at the same law firm and was employed there when he filed the lawsuit against KNR.