Attorney begins collection activity against Jore for legal fees

The attorney who represented Anita Big Spring in the lawsuit over the disputed House District 12 seat has initiated collection activity against Rick Jore, seizing all the money in his bank accounts, but Jore will have an opportunity to contest further action at a court hearing Monday morning.

Jore was informed in a Sept. 1 letter from his bank that approximately $568 dollars had been seized from his personal and business accounts after a Aug. 25 writ of execution was served on Aug. 31, authorizing the Lake County Sheriff's office to seize personal and real property to pay off the $15,663 in legal fees owed to Helena attorney Mike Meloy.

The saga began last December when Big Spring filed suit on behalf of Jeanne Windham after a Lake County Recount Board determined the election results between Jore and Windham resulted in a tie, along with seven disputed ballots that had been marked twice. Those ballots were awarded to Jore.

A District Court ruling last winter upheld the election board's findings — in which case Jore would have been appointed to the seat by then-governor Judy Martz — but the state Supreme Court overturned the District Court ruling, giving Windham the HD 12 seat during the 2005 Legislature.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court said Jore should be responsible for attorney's fees incurred by Big Spring, and at a hearing held last June to validate those fees, District Judge Kim Christopher issued her conclusion, saying essentially that the attorneys' fees were reasonable. At that point, Christopher was not charged with determining whether it was appropriate for Jore to be held liable for those fees, but only that they were appropriate for the work performed.

Jore immediately called upon Windham and the Democrats to pay those fees, arguing that he didn't do anything to bring the judgment upon himself other than run for office. He reiterated that position earlier this week as he faced the possibility that he could face more legal action.

"I recognize that the Supreme Court has ordered this (that he pay Meloy's legal bill), but I believe that it's a blatant injustice on the part of the Supreme Court," Jore said. "I've taken this position because I believe we have to bring attention to the state Supreme Court. I hope the citizens of this state will wake up and see the arrogance that emanates from there."

Jore noted that Windham has also said publicly how unfair it is that Jore be made to pay Big Spring's legal fees, and said she and the Democrats should foot the bill.

"Ms. Windham is allowing this to happen by not paying her bill. She could prevent the confiscation of my property, she and the Democrats, by paying her bill," Jore said.

Windham's position on the matter is largely articulated in a letter to the editor that appears on page A6, and she is not a formal party to the legal action against Jore. The writ of execution filed against Jore was done so on behalf of Big Spring, but Meloy confirmed he initiated the action and that it was not done at Windham's or Big Spring's request.

Meloy said if someone else had paid his legal fees, there'd be no reason to go after Jore, but that he's left with little other recourse.

"The judgment is in favor of Anita Big Spring for our fees. If she paid them, then I wouldn't worry about collecting on the judgment," Meloy said.

However, both Meloy and Windham contend that they asked Jore's attorney, Duncan Scott, to agree to waive the collecting of attorney's fees by either side before the start of the December legal battle, and that therefore he's largely responsible for the mess he's in.

"I was the one that conveyed the offer to him. I said, 'Look, because of this weird kind of legal proceeding we are in, it seems like neither one of us should take the risk of paying the other's fees," Meloy said. "He said, 'Nope, we are going after fees.'"

Scott was unavailable for comment prior to press time, and attempted to have himself removed as Jore's attorney earlier this year after the Supreme Court ruling, although Judge Christopher in effect denied his request until the issue is resolved.

Meloy said that because attorneys report their income on a cash basis, they are unable to write off bad debt like other companies, and so his only option is to come after Jore for the money.

"If we don't get it (the money), we don't have the income," Meloy said of that particular accounting system. "You can't write off income that you don't get."

Meloy said he trimmed his bill down as much as possible in an effort to resolve the situation.

"We trimmed out bill way down, and it's about half of what Jore's attorney charged him. It would be hard for us to cut it any more," he said.

Jore said he's concerned that Meloy could file a lien against his house and other property, which would mean that Meloy would be paid first if Jore sold any assets.

"The writ is clear that they can go to that extent. I'm concerned, yes I am," Jore said. "But I don't believe the injustice was perpetrated by Lake County. I hold no animosity toward Judge Christopher, the election office, or Sheriff Barron. I understand the position they are in."

Meloy said he has to weigh the extent of the collection activities against how much time it costs him, noting that he can't seize Jore's physical property without going through the discovery process. Meloy said he's already incurred enough expense in the case, and expressed frustration at having to go to Monday's legal hearing.

"The judgment statute allows you to recover against whatever property he has, but I don't know what else he's got. In order to know that, I'd have to do some discovery," Meloy said. "Frankly, it doesn't make much sense to incur more fees, and unfortunately we will probably have to go to Polson for this court hearing."

Jore continues to blame the state Supreme Court for the situation, and said he wished there was more power at the local level to keep higher authority in check. He acknowledged he isn't optimistic about Monday's hearing, though, noting that Judge Christopher's hands are largely tied.

"Quite frankly, I'm surprised she granted it," he said of his request for an exemption hearing. "But I will use this opportunity to reiterate that I don't believe any of my property should be at risk. I'm not very optimistic because I recognize up front that Judge Christopher has her hands tied, unless she's willing to confront the Supreme Court."

Jore said it would benefit the Democrats to pay the fees, but that he realizes that's a tall order when they could instead spend the money to help one of their own candidates.

"I was hoping the Democrats would recognize what an obvious injustice this is and step up and pay the bill, or at least be concerned about the negative publicity from this," he said.

The hearing is at 9 a.m. Monday at the Lake County courthouse.