Jerry Roberts Prevails: A Santa Barbara Superior Court judge today ruled against News-Press owner Wendy McCaw, in favor of former editor Jerry Roberts, in their bitter arbitration battle.

Judge James Brown, in a decision confirmed in court today, February 11, refused McCaw’s request to oust the arbitrator who found Roberts to be the prevailing party, putting him in line to collect what sources say could be several hundred thousand dollars in attorney fees from McCaw.

According to reports circulating in the courthouse, McCaw’s legal bills have mounted to more than $2 million dollars so far, and are expected to vastly increase if McCaw appeals both Judge Brown’s ruling and then the arbitration decision itself, as is likely, according to court watchers. News-Press attorney Barry Cappello, asked if the paper would appeal Judge Brown's ruling, replied, "We will recommend that to our client."

Roberts, who resigned on July 6, 2006 along with other top editors and this columnist, appears to have a long wait to collect his attorney’s fees, if in fact he comes out on top after a long appeals process. After Roberts resigned, McCaw filed a $500,000 arbitration action against him, alleging breach of contract and its confidentiality clause, apparently due to his public statements about McCaw’s interference in newsgathering. Roberts then filed a $10 million counterclaim, which McCaw countered with a $25 million action.

But following a 10-day private hearing and many months of pondering — too long, McCaw’s attorneys claim — arbitrator Deborah Rothman first announced that she was tentatively inclined to rule in favor of McCaw as prevailing, then, to the puzzlement of many, reversed herself and decided in favor of Roberts. She declined to award damages to either side but found that Roberts was the prevailing party, apparently because he had a right to defend himself under the contract. That puts him in line to collect attorney fees.

Judge Brown’s ruling orders McCaw to pay Roberts $12,153 in attorney’s fees and costs stemming from McCaw’s actions to oust Rothman, deposit $48,600 to cover arbitrator fees McCaw had withheld after learning that Rothman was ruling against her, and to complete the arbitration process.

McCaw’s attorneys argued that Rothman should be removed because she flip-flopped in her decision and took too long to render it. Replied Roberts’s attorney Andrine Smith, in a December, 2008 story in the Independent about McCaw seeking to oust Rothman, “While complaining about delays, (the News-Press) now ensures there will be more, in its vicious attempt to ruin Jerry Roberts and his family financially.”

In the article, Rothman was quoted as characterizing “the legal tactics of McCaw’s attorneys as “scorched earth,” “take-no-prisoners,” and “go-for-broke.”

Roberts is now publications supervisor for the UCSB Daily Nexus and yearbook, and a political columnist for the Independent.

Barney Brantingham can be reached at barney@independent.com or (805) 965-5205. He writes online columns and a print column on Thursdays.

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