A man who was molested as a child by a Portland priest -- then secured a $900,000 settlement from the church -- has yet to see a penny more than seven years after the church paid out the money.

In a lawsuit filed this week in Multnomah County Circuit Court, the man alleges that attorneys who represented him in the case managed to claim $877,000 of the settlement, leaving him with no more than $23,000. Yet the man, identified only by his initials, G.B., hasn't seen a check for any amount.

According to the suit, G.B. has been living off $400 to $500 a month in Social Security disability payments. Little else has been disclosed about G.B., other than he's suffered a lifetime of damage because of the abuse, which occurred while he was a student at All Saints School in Northeast Portland by

Laughlin was kicked out of the priesthood in 1983 after being convicted of molesting boys.

"He was supposed to get some compensation for what happened to him as a kid, and he didn't," said Jack Polance, the Portland attorney seeking close to $700,000, plus interest, for G.B. in this week's suit.

The suit reveals how an unusual sequence of events left a victim of childhood sexual abuse with next to nothing. The suit also has upset the legal community, raising questions about the professionalism of at least one of the attorneys involved -- and fueled concerns about potential damage to the public image of attorneys.

David Paul, a prominent Portland attorney who is not related to G.B.'s case but has represented dozens of other victims of sexual abuse, finds the outcome of G.B.'s case disturbing. He said a client's settlement should never be consumed almost entirely by attorneys fees.

"It's wrong legally, it's wrong morally and it's wrong ethically," Paul said. "The client has to be well taken care of."

Priest Abuse Cases

The standard attorney contingency fee is one-third of a settlement, and it should be stated in a written agreement. If more than one attorney works on a case, the attorneys should hash out how they split that amount, Paul said.

When a settlement is reached, the check is written to the plaintiff's attorney, who keeps it in a trust account for the client. Typically the attorney deducts his fee and costs and gives the rest to the client.

G.B. hired attorney Michael "Mickey" Morey in 2001 to represent him in a suit against the Archdiocese of Portland. Morey worked on the case for 2 1/2 years, and got a $650,000 settlement offer from the archdiocese. He continued to negotiate for a higher amount, but in July 2003, G.B. fired Morey and hired Portland attorney Frederick T. Smith.

Three days later, Smith negotiated a $900,000 settlement offer, which G.B. accepted. Smith took one-third of the settlement -- or $300,000 -- as his fee. But Morey believed he was due a large chunk of that fee because he'd done virtually all the work leading up to the settlement. Smith wouldn't share.

Morey sued his former client, and in 2004, Multnomah County Judge John Wittmayer ruled that Morey had "substantially performed his contractual duties" under his written fee agreement with G.B. and should get $300,000 of the settlement. Wittmayer also ruled that G.B. must pay $72,000 in interest, Morey's costs in litigating the sexual abuse case and Morey's costs to hire an attorney to pursue what G.B. owed him.

This week's suit claims that Smith and two other attorneys -- Jeffrey Boly and Jaculin Smith -- gave him bad legal advice by encouraging him to fight Morey every step of the way. The suit states that upon advice of the three attorneys, G.B. appealed the case to the Oregon Court of Appeals and the Oregon Supreme Court. The Court of Appeals again sided with Morey, and the Supreme Court refused to rule on the case. But both courts awarded Morey additional money for his costs.

The years of additional litigation cost G.B. big. By the time it was all over, he was ordered to pay Morey $527,000.

On top of that, Frederick Smith kept the $300,000 he thought he was due, even though the suit alleges he didn't have authority to take the money because he didn't have a written contract. The suit also alleges Smith gave $50,000 from the settlement to the Portland French School in Southwest Portland, where Boly is listed as a member of the school's board of directors. The suit states Smith did that without G.B.'s permission.

Frederick Smith and Boly did not return calls Tuesday seeking comment. Jaculin Smith could not be reached.

Morey, who is now retired, said Tuesday that he was willing to split legal fees for G.B.'s sexual abuse settlement with Frederick Smith, but Smith refused to negotiate.

"I worked very hard on that case for G.B. for nearly 2 1/2 years, and literally at the 11th hour and 59th minute, (Smith) comes in, settles the case and says I was entitled to zero," Morey said.

Of note, G.B.'s suit doesn't fault Morey. That's because Morey was rightfully due payment for his work on the case, said Polance, who filed this week's lawsuit against G.B.'s second set of attorneys.

G.B. filed an ethics complaint against Morey in 2004, when Smith still served as his counsel. The bar dismissed it as without merit.

Last year, Morey filed an ethics complaint against Frederick Smith. The bar is still investigating that complaint.

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