Submitted by Laurel Bohl, Sep 20, 2007 15:04

"Skoolwatch" or National Enquirer?

I must advise Mr. George Deabold and Mr. Frank Gerace ("cofounders" of the "skoolwatch" website), that if they continue to use my name in these wild, unprovoked, unsubstantiated, baseless, suggestive slurs against my good name and my reputation, that I will be forced to take any and all legal action available against them, including seeking an injunction to shut down their "National Enquirer" style website. Neither Mr. Deabold nor Mr. Gerace were ever in the office they speak of, did not talk to anyone who worked in that office, have no idea what happened there or what information individual attorneys were privy to or not privy to, or indeed if the attorneys there were actually fighting to make things better; yet they attack the attorneys with fabricated scenarios, self-created false hypotheses and negative character assaults that are unsupported by a single iota of evidence and have no basis in either fact or fiction. In short, they have no idea what they are talking about, and are simply making things up as they go along for sensationalistic value and their own personal aggrandisement. By denying they are "journalists" they proudly seem to proclaim they can lie about anything they want to and print it without any ethical or legal constraints. I note that I am not the only attorney from that office who has instructed Mr. Deabold and Mr. Gerace to stop using their name in connection with false information and allegations, or face legal action.

Ironically, Mr. Deabold and Mr. Gerace, by attacking good, decent, honest and ethical attorneys, have now achieved the exact opposite of their espoused objective, and likely have discouraged anyone from cooperating with an investigation for fear that their names too will be randomly dragged through the mud for no reason. Sadly, the people that are hurt by this the most are the parents and children with disabilities who really do want and deserve a fair investigation into the decision-making process behind their appeals, and may have been close to achieving that end. There is no need for this. Mr. Deabold and Mr. Gerace, if you truly do care about these children with disabilities, as you say you do, be adults and please find a shred of decency within yourselves and stop the totally unnecessary wild, unsubstantiated accusations and negative slurs against people you know nothing about in situations you know nothing about, and let a full and fair investigation proceed untainted. Otherwise, I would advise Mr. Deabold and Mr. Gerace, if they do have an amateur interest in reading up on the law, to spend less time reading up on the code of professional responsibility for lawyers, and more time reading up on libel law; they may need it in the future. I also implore all reputable journalists, such as the New York Sun, to refrain from printing anything from Mr. Deabold and Mr. Gerace or their scurrilous website that cannot be journalistically corroborated from several first-hand outside sources; which, at the moment, will leave nothing from them or their website that's fit to print.

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