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Chester County Press

East Nottingham supervisor sued after comments at township meeting

09/25/2013 04:25PM ● By Acl

By Steven Hoffman

Staff Writer

East Nottingham Township supervisor Jane Ladley is being sued by an attorney from King of Prussia as a result of statements that she made at the Aug. 13 board of supervisors meeting.

Ladley read from a prepared statement at the meeting regarding the legal representation that residents of the Wyndham Creek community are receiving from attorney George Kotsopoulos. According to documents filed by Kotsopoulos in the Chester County Court of Common Pleas, Ladley stated:

“I’d like to strongly advise that your group seek out proper legal counsel to represent your HOA {Homeowners Association} and Wyndham Creek as we move forward. From what I see in my notes, your current legal representation is George Kotsopoulos based in King of Prussia, this is the name our lawyers have on file…”

Wyndham Creek resident Bill Carey interrupted Ladley at that point to tell her that Kotsopoulos was no longer representing the homeowners. Then Ladley continued with her statement.

“…Okay well you might want to correct that because a quick summary on George Kotsopoulos I thought would potentially help your group if you were using him that the Supreme Court on December 20 ordered George Kotsopoulos suspended for six months retroactive to the date of June 6, 2005, the date of his temporary suspension as recommended by the disciplinary board. The disciplinary report said Kotsopoulos was convicted of three counts of tampering with public records or information in connection with notarizing signatures signed outside of his presence. The report said he also engaged in unauthorized practice while on temporary suspension.”

The lawsuit contends that Ladley’s omission of the proper date of the suspension was “negligent, if not maliciously intentional” and that the statement injured Kotsopoulos’ reputation as an attorney.

Kotsopoulos is seeking general damages of $50,000, interest on such damages awarded, the costs of the lawsuit, and other relief that the court might deem proper.

On Sept. 10, Ladley wrote a letter to John Coldiron, the chairman of the board of supervisors, asking that the township provide legal defense of the claim.

When asked after the conclusion of the Sept. 17 board of supervisors meeting whether the township would be paying to defend Ladley, Coldiron said, “We have an insurance policy to cover things like this.”

According to East Nottingham resident Rick Orner, he and a group of residents who belong to the East Nottingham Township Citizens for Open and Honest Government group have made a written request for Ladley to resign as supervisor and as the Republican committee person for East Nottingham Township.

Ladley left the Sept. 17 board of supervisors meeting without commenting on the lawsuit.