Having lost its property claim against Hudson Presbyterian Church (HPC) in Hudson, Ohio, Eastminster Presbytery accused its former attorneys of malpractice and took them to court.

But the presbytery’s quest for retribution was unsuccessful as a Summit County judge ruled Sept. 24 in favor of defendants Stark & Knoll, which represented Eastminster in its case against HPC. The court also ordered the presbytery to pay the legal costs.

Eastminster turned on its attorneys after a magistrate ruled that there was no evidence to support the claims that the Hudson church’s property belonged to the presbytery. The legal wrangling began in 2006 after HPC declared its intent to leave the Presbyterian Church (USA), which prompted legal action by both parties. Hudson sought to protect its property, while Eastminster sought to claim it using the PCUSA’s so-called trust clause.

A magistrate later ruled that there was no evidence that such a trust existed and that Hudson’s affiliation was voluntary, and thus it had the right to disaffiliate. Eastminster lost on appeal in early 2009.

Blaming its attorneys for the loss, Eastminster accused them of professional negligence for failing to ensure that a copy of the PCUSA’s Book of Order was included in an exhibit binder.

According to the ruling, the presence of the Book of Order in the evidence wouldn’t have a made a difference.

Read More: http://www.layman.org/News.aspx?article=27624

[Editor’s note: the original URL (link) referenced in this article is no longer valid, so the link has been removed.]