Lawyer quits team seeking money for Oklahoma City bomb victims

ST. LOUIS -- A lawyer has withdrawn from a quest to get compensation for victims of the Oklahoma City bombing, citing ethical concerns about an attorney he had joined in the effort that has drawn fierce criticism over potential legal fees.

Douglas Dowd said fellow St. Louisan Charles Polk had contracted with a non-lawyer to solicit clients and share fees.

Dowd comes from a prominent Democratic family and has represented the Missouri Democratic Party. Polk is a Republican who is a friend of Attorney General John Ashcroft. The two of them had lobbied Congress and written to President Bush seeking legislation that would pay victims of the Oklahoma City bombing out of a fund established for victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Signs of trouble surfaced Wednesday when Dowd said he was aware of only about 30 contracts signed by survivors of the 1995 Oklahoma bombing that killed 168 and injured more than 500. Dowd said he could not explain why some news accounts, lately in Wednesday's editions of The Kansas City Star, said the two men had 150 clients.

In a letter Friday to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Dowd said he was "totally unaware" until recently that Polk had contracted with a non-lawyer to solicit clients and share fees.

"Questions have now been raised concerning the propriety of the manner in which Mr. Polk originally came into contact with the Oklahoma City victims," Saturday's Post-Dispatch quoted Dowd as writing. "For this reason, I have withdrawn from any further involvement in the Oklahoma City case."

"This withdrawal," he added, "is difficult for me because of my personal feelings for these victims of terrorism."

Dowd, who did not identify the solicitor but said he has reported Polk to The Missouri Bar, could not be reached for elaboration. Neither could Polk.

'We won't be popular'

Polk told The Star last week that he and Dowd have done nothing improper, and "we understand we won't be popular, but we are resigned to doing what is fair and in our opinion, constitutionally required."

Critics have alleged that the lawyers recruited the Oklahoma City victims by touting their relations with Beltway heavyweights -- Polk as a friend of Attorney General John Ashcroft, Dowd with family ties to House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt.

Polk told The Star he never touted his Ashcroft connection. Dowd has not spoken publicly about the matter.

Regardless, the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday debated about how much attorneys should be paid to represent victims who make claims to the terrorism fund, then decided to put off voting on the legislation until a compromise could be reached.

Some lawmakers have voiced concerns about agreements that would give Dowd and Polk 25 percent of whatever they get from the fund. The lawyers later drafted an agreement that would give them 10 percent plus expenses "for negotiating and lobbying for legislation to provide for me being compensated."

The 25 percent contingency still would apply in the case of a successful class-action lawsuit.

Sen. Don Nickles, the Oklahoma Republican who has been working to include bombing victims in the bill, said he believes the victims don't need attorneys to get compensation. Even if they do, many attorneys have offered their services free of charge.

Missouri Supreme Court rules governing attorneys set limits on what a lawyer can do to advertise or promote his or her services before clients. For example, lawyers can pay fees to lawyer referral services, but only if those services file reports with the state's chief disciplinary counsel and comply with other rules.

Attorneys who violate the Missouri Rules of Professional Conduct can be reprimanded or suspended by the state's high court.

In Friday's letter to the Post-Dispatch, Dowd said Polk told him months ago by telephone he had been contacted by Kathleen Treanor, who lost her 4-year-old daughter in the Oklahoma bombing.

Treanor recently began Fairness Oklahoma City, describing it as her informal organization dedicated to getting compensation for victims of the Oklahoma City bombing on a par with the fund for victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

On Friday, Treanor said she had no knowledge of anyone Polk may have hired to solicit clients.

Treanor has sent out e-mails urging people to sign up with the Dowd and Polk, and she keeps a list of those who have signed contracts. But she insisted "I'm not an employee of Mr. Polk in any way, shape or form."