KNR Docket

Summit County Judge Alison Breaux has ordered the Clerk of Courts to remove all public records and withhold digital copies of case filings in the lawsuit against personal-injury law firm Kisling, Nestico and Redick. The case is set for a Wednesday court hearing to discuss the orders and other issues in the case.

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AKRON, Ohio -- The Summit County judge presiding over a civil lawsuit against the personal-injury law firm Kisling, Nestico and Redick has ordered the Clerk of Courts to withhold all digital copies of public records filed in the case from the public, including reporters.

Common Pleas Judge Alison Breaux, the court's newest judge, also imposed a gag order preventing public comments on the case from lawyers for the law firm and three former clients who accused the firm of colluding with chiropractors and offering kickbacks for clinics to refer patients to the firm.

Breaux has scheduled a Wednesday hearing to discuss the orders.

The move, while not unprecedented in Summit County, could be an obstacle in the plaintiff's path to class-action status.

Judges here have ordered the clerk's office to restrict online access to records in high-profile criminal cases before, including two death-penalty trials.

A Wednesday order from Breaux instructed the clerk to only restrict "online access" to the records, and said anyone could request copies of the records from the clerk's office.

But Jackie Ludle, an evidence officer in the Summit County Clerk of Courts who handled public records requests, told cleveland.com that a Thursday order barred her from distributing digital copies of any case filings, including a copy of the order itself. The newer order told the clerk to "restrict public access to any and all filings" in the case, Ludle said, meaning she could not reveal any information about the case over the phone.

"This is very rare," Ludle said.

An employee at the clerk's office said on Tuesday that records in the case are only available in person, and employees cannot fulfill requests for public records digitally.

Breaux declined to comment on the order through her bailiff.

Breaux issued the orders after an emergency teleconference the morning of March 27 in which she accused plaintiffs' attorneys Subodh Chandra and Peter Pattakos of "shenanigans," according to a copy of a transcript of the hearing obtained by cleveland.com before the orders were issued.

Breaux pointed to posts about the lawsuit on social media, on the Chandra Law Firm's blog and to coverage in the media about the lawsuit, and accused lawyers Chandra and Pattakos of including evidence in court filings before Breaux ruled on whether they were admissible.

"I do not appreciate that these things are suddenly being trying to be tried in the media," Breaux said. "This will be tried in my court."

Chandra declined to comment when reached by phone Thursday, citing the gag order.

It is not the first time Pattakos has been accused of trying to use the media to publicize a case.

Pattakos was sanctioned for providing to Cleveland Scene public records related to a civil trial in which he represented a former nanny and an employee of the English Nanny & Governess School in a lawsuit against the school. A Scene reporter used the documents to write a story that was published the first day of jury selection in the case. Several potential jurors said they saw the headline of the story but did not read the full story. The judge later declared a mistrial after Pattakos fell ill.

The jury in that 2015 case awarded the plaintiffs more than $390,000, though the judge later reduced the verdict to $194,066.76. The judge also awarded Pattakos and his co-counsel $125,045.45 in attorney fees.

The trial judge also fined Pattakos more than $11,000, though Pattakos appealed and his case is currently pending.

The lawsuit against KNR, filed on behalf of three former KNR clients, accuses the law firm and owners Alberto Nestico and Robert Redick of working with chiropractors who cold-called people after they were involved in accidents, offered free transportation to a chiropractic clinic and referred them to hire KNR.

The firm then rewarded the executives of clinics who referred the most patients to them with luxury vacations, the lawsuit alleges.

The suit also accuses the firm of charging fees for "investigations" that were never done.

The suit also alleges that Nestico ordered KNR attorneys to direct all KNR clients to take out high-interest loans with Liberty Capital, which was recently formed and was run out of the home of the company's CEO, who had most recently worked as an insurance broker.

KNR has denied the claims in the lawsuit.

Chandra and Pattakos are seeking class-action status for the lawsuit, meaning a slew of additional plaintiffs could join the fray and seek damages from KNR should Breaux grant the distinction.

Attorneys and law firms are allowed to advertise about potential class-action cases, as long as the advertisements aren't misleading, Thomas Rein, a Northeast Ohio criminal defense and civil attorney, said.

Rein emphasized that he was not criticizing Breaux's orders because he did not know all of the facts leading up to her decision.

But he said restricting lawyers' ability to communicate and publicize their cases could make it much more difficult for them to get more clients if the judge grants class-action status.

"If you're prevented from advertising, that would certainly come with limitations," Rein said. "They appear to have their cause be much more challenging if there is a restrictive gag order that prevents them from seeking new clients."

To comment on this story, visit Tuesday's crime and courts comments page.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the reason a mistrial was declared in the 2015 lawsuit involving Peter Pattakos and the English Nanny & Governess School.