ATTORNEY ATTACKED AS INEPT JUDGE SAYS DEFENDER OF HANFORD DOWNWINDERS

A federal judge Friday harshly criticized a Spokane attorney accused of fraud and incompetence in her handling of complicated Hanford downwinder litigation.

U.S. District Judge Alan McDonald said Nancy Oreskovich "systematically and willfully" failed to keep her clients adequately informed of developments in the case, even when ordered to do so by the court.

The hearing was intended to determine whether Oreskovich should be held in contempt for failing to promptly mail out a court-approved summary of a federal magistrate's report that recommended her removal from the case. Oreskovich has not yet had her chance to respond to Magistrate Judge Nancy Fiora's findings, filed in July. That will happen in a hearing in Yakima on Oct. 18. McDonald said he "obviously regarded the conduct as contemptuous." But he held off ruling until Oreskovich's attorney had a chance to respond in writing. Oreskovich's attorney, Larry Carter of Seattle, will reply to the contempt charge by Sept. 13. Oreskovich told McDonald she had not understood the urgency behind her attorney's directions to mail the summary to her nearly 1,500 clients. She also said she accidentally sent out an unapproved summary, but sent out the correct one as soon as she realized her error. Fiora - assigned by McDonald to investigate allegations of misconduct made by a Spokane firm that had agreed to pay Oreskovich's expenses for work on the case - recommended the Washington Bar Association investigate Oreskovich for possible fraud in her handling of the so-called "downwinder" litigation. At issue are damage claims from area residents exposed to radiation from the Hanford nuclear reservation. The complaint by Spokane attorney Richard Eymann and the transcripts generated during Fiora's investigation remain under seal in McDonald's court. Fiora's report concludes Oreskovich: Wrongfully charged expenses to her clients and to a Spokane law firm that was helping her. Failed to keep clients well-informed about the case. Did not provide required information to opposing attorneys and to attorneys on the plaintiffs' side. Did not comply with court orders. Ran a practice that was incapable of handling the complicated litigation. Fiora expressed concern that Oreskovich's conduct could threaten her clients' case against the Department of Energy and several former Hanford contractors for accidental and intentional radiation releases in the 1940s and 1950s. Oreskovich, with about 1,490 confirmed clients, is one of several attorneys representing groups of clients totaling at least 4,200. Some of the downwinders are coming to Oreskovich's defense. Former Hanford worker Gai Oglesbee criticized McDonald in a Sept. 5 letter and was at Friday's hearing.

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