help to fend off
spouse
Howell attorney saluted
for pro bono case work
Divorced woman needed
help to fend off
spouse’s legal maneuvers
BY LINDA DeNICOLA
Staff Writer
Robert Ciolek
HOWELL — The pro bono work of two attorneys in the same law firm has been a "blessing" in the life of an Essex County woman whose husband has been obsessively suing her and causing trouble since they separated in 1996.
Howell resident Robert Ciolek is one of the two attorneys who have done the work without payment. A Monmouth County resident for 15 years, he is with the firm of Drinker Biddle and Reath, Florham Park. Ciolek and Andrew White, as well as the firm, were honored recently by the organization Volunteer Lawyers for Justice (VLJ) for the pro bono work they did on the difficult custody case.
According to Karen Sachs, director of the organization that was put together in 2001 to meet the needs of the poor, Ciolek and White handled two matters on behalf of the organization, including a case that VLJ had been unable to place because it was so cumbersome.
That case, which Ciolek and White have been working on since April 2002, involves a client whose former spouse filed 40 motions, nine appeals and two lawsuits against her, causing her to incur thousands of dollars in legal fees that she was unable to pay.
Ciolek and White represented the client in 20 of the 40 motions, which were all thrown out. They obtained a judgment for past legal fees and obtained orders barring the spouse from filing motions and suits against the client for a period of time. In all, the two attorneys have each logged nearly 200 hours on the case, even petitioning their firm to continue with the case after they expended their pro bono hour cap.
"And it’s not over yet," Ciolek said, adding that his client’s former spouse has never let go. "Between 1999 when the divorce was granted and my involvement in 2002, he has sought to revisit every aspect of the court’s decisions regarding the divorce. The divorce hearing itself lasted eight days. He even sued his own lawyers after the divorce. Since then he has carried the banner himself [by] filing 30 or 40 motions or appeals."
Ciolek explained that the wife continued with counsel after the divorce, but eventually she could not afford the services of an attorney.
"In 2001 she tried to defend herself and file her own papers and was nearinga kind of breakdown. She reached out to the Essex County Bar Association for relief. VLJ contacted our firm to see if we had an attorney or two that could plow through the paperwork," he said.
Ciolek said in the 18 months that he has represented the former wife, her ex-husband has filed 11 appeals with the New Jersey Appellate Court.
"Ten of them have been decided against him. The last one should be decided within the next couple of months," he said.
According to the attorney, in New Jersey, divorcing couples are usually awarded joint custody of a child (or children) that covers decisions that are made about the child(ren). In this case the court found that the husband had demonstrated such hostility toward his former spouse and disregard for the care of the child that he would not be acting in the best interest of the child.
"The court’s decision in this case established a new standard in family law matters, whereby one parent is given full legal custody for a minor child. That parent has the right to make all decisions for the child without the involvement of the former spouse," Ciolek said. "He is able to visit the child, but has no say in what the child does in his everyday life, that includes things like sports decisions, counseling, medical, schooling."
It is no wonder that it was difficult to find attorneys to take the case. It has been frustrating and time consuming for both men.
"Most of our efforts have been spent beating back his barrage of filings. In the divorce, [the wife] was awarded $10,000 in attorney fees. He never paid it. We’ve been chasing down that money, but he’s self-employed and very savvy. He has nothing in his name," the attorney said. "In fact, he pays his child support by money order or cash. We have tried for a year to locate his assets."
Ciolek said the situation has been made worse because the former husband decided to stop paying his child support in May.
"It’s not over," he added.
Ciolek said his firm has been very supportive.
"The legal fees that otherwise would have been attached to this would have been substantial. The firm is good enough to let my time spent on this be part of my legal work for the firm. My hours are generally 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. anyway," he said.
In a letter from the client commending the work that Ciolek and White did, the woman wrote, "Rob and Andrew have done a fantastic job. Sometimes I call there late at night to leave a message for them and they are still there. … They deserve a lifesaving award. They gave me back my life and my son’s life. … Rob Ciolek and Andrew White are my heroes…"
Ciolek’s concentration is in complex commercial litigation and environmental matters with a smattering of family law. Prior to joining Drinker Biddle and Reath in 1997, he was the assistant director of the Division of Solid and Hazardous Waste for the state Department of Environmental Protection.
He also served as chairman of the Permit Elimination Team on which he reviewed and evaluated all of the state’s permitting programs. He was also a key participant in major revisions that were made to New Jersey’s solid and hazardous waste regulations in the 1990s.
Sachs said Volunteer Lawyers for Justice was put together by the Essex County Task Force and provides training and support to attorneys so that they might be more interested in taking pro bono work.
The lawyers provide services in cases involving children who have been removed from school because of zero tolerance policies, family law cases such as domestic violence and consumer fraud cases, landlord tenant disputes.
"We kind of do everything, but not criminal cases. People have to be under 150 percent of the federal poverty level" to qualify for the pro bono services, she said.
Ciolek said handling the case he worked on has had its rewards.
"It clearly has allowed the affected spouse to move on and enjoy her life to a greater degree. She remarried in the last year and is pregnant. We’ve been able to take the legal burden off her, but there is never going to be full closure for her because of the minor child," he said.