Summary judgment favoring church lobbyists appealed By Parker T. Williamson The Presbyterian Layman Sept/Oct, 1997 WASHINGTON – Presbyterian Church (USA) lobbyist Elenora Ivory and seven Interfaith Impact associates in Washington, D.C. received mixed news regarding a lawsuit filed against them by Rev. James Bell, a former Interfaith Impact employee. On June 11, 1997, United States District Judge for the District of Columbia Stanley Sporkin dismissed Bell’s lawsuit based on a summary judgment filed by the defendants. But two subsequent developments may dampen victory celebrations at national church headquarters. Attorneys for the church officials have admitted inappropriate behavior in their conduct of the case, and Bell has appealed the dismissal. Ivory and her associates are represented pro bono by two Washington attorneys, Alissa Horvitz and Katherine Houlihan, both of Morgan, Lewis and Bockius, L.L.P. Bell, who argues that his job was wrongly terminated by the church lobbyists, is represented by James Crabtree, a partner in Charlotte, N.C., law firm Smathers and Thompson. Assisting Crabtree is Bell’s son, Kevin, a third-year law student at George Mason University Law School in Arlington, Va. In the heat of the litigation, Horvitz and Houlihan attacked not only Bell, but his son in an unusual outside-the-courtroom assault. Described as “hardball” tactics by Washington’s Legal Times (Aug. 4), Horvitz and Houlihan wrote Kevin Bell’s law school dean, Timothy Muris, on March 21, asking that he apply pressure on Bell. The two attorneys asked Muris not to “certify in writing as to [Kevin Bell’s] character and legal ability,” a requirement for licensure to practice law following graduation. They also asked the dean to get “the message through to Kevin that there are honorable ways to practice law and dishonorable ways, and that if he continues to practice it dishonorably, it is likely to hurt him …” The essence of Horvitz and Houlihan’s complaint was that Kevin Bell had signed Crabtree’s name on pleadings filed in the D.C. case and on two subpoenas issued out of the Eastern District of Virginia. But Horvitz and Houlihan failed to tell the law school dean that Bell had signed Crabtree’s name at Crabtree’s direction and had added his own initials to the signature. Commenting on the incident, Sherman Cohn, a legal ethics expert who teaches at the Georgetown University Law Center, told the Legal Times that “in failing to tell the dean that Bell signed the signatures and initialed them according to Crabtree’s instruction, the Morgan, Lewis associates stepped over the line of propriety.” … “Attorneys should know better,” said Cohn … “That’s not the way to practice law.” James Bell says that when he learned of the attorneys’ attacks against his son, he called Rev. Paul Sherry, president of the United Church of Christ, a partner denomination with the Presbyterian Church (USA) in the Washington lobby, asking that he take steps to stop this inappropriate behavior by the churches’ legal counsel. According to Bell, church leaders did nothing. But when the partners of Morgan, Lewis and Bockius heard about the incident, they did something about it. John Lewis, managing partner, called Rev. Bell’s attorney expressing his apology for the actions of Horvitz and Houlihan. The call was then followed by a letter from Charles O’Conner, chairman of Morgan, Lewis’ Labor and Employment Law Section. O’Conner’s letter stated that Horvitz and Houlihan’s letter to the law school dean had been written without the knowledge or approval of any firm partner and added that “the letter [to the law school] should not be taken as any statement by our Firm that any of its lawyers view Kevin Bell as lacking in good character or legal ability.” A copy of the letter was sent to the law firm that Kevin Bell serves as a clerk offering “the same expression of regret and apology.” Reflecting on the apologies, Rev. Bell said “My son is a lifelong member of the United Church of Christ. I thought … at least the denomination would help stop the uncalled-for attack on my son. Fortunately, Mr. Lewis had the integrity and ethics to apologize. It is sad when the legal profession seems to exert more moral responsibility than the church … I have been astounded at the measures the churches will go. It is frightening to know that churches act just like big corporations when they feel threatened.” Elenora Giddings Ivory, whose Presbyterian national office has repeatedly challenged U.S. corporations for unethical behavior with regard to workers’ rights, apparently had no problem with Horvitz and Houlihan’s tactics. She told the Legal Times that she and her co-defendants were “completely satisfied” with their representation by the two attorneys.

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