http://www.caica.org/danieal.jpg 8/16/2008 UPDATE:
Well, it's funny, the fire in Conshohocken had me so "consumed" (poor choice of play on words) that I had forgotten to come in and update this post. When I posted this story, these coffin chasers were indeed representing the parents, as well as the estate of this young girl who was neglected to death, Danieal Kelly....so then after a lot of folks were understandably and publicly in an uproar including Mayor Michael Nutter of Philadelphia, I guess the complaint was amneded? So now they are repesenting the estate? So if the estate is the estate of a minor child dying intestate, wouldn't the law then see her legal heirs as those who were supposed to be her parents? Not a laywer, don't play one on TV, so what happens next? Apparently one of the lawyers has hired a lawyer to defend his honor? Then there will be a press conference? And this lawyer's lawyer is saying that these lawyers are being unfairly commented about? The best defense is the truth, and what has been said that is not true? Mind you I haven't read ALL of the multiple newspaper articles or seen all TV reports, or read all 43,300 links on Google or all 1,111 blog posts that Google has picked up on, but seriously, are these lawyers going to challenge First Amendment Rights too?

Well the articles roll out one after the other ...so now the long and short of it is that lawyers are hiring lawyers and I guess publicisits? All to spin their personal choice in accepting this despicable case that is "all about the kids"? Now seriously, correct me if I am wrong, this is a civil action, correct? There is no court appointed lawyer, this isn't a everyone-is-entitled-to-a-good-defense-story...there is a certain amount of FREE will involved, correct? As in the lawyers did NOT have to take the case? So how do you spin THAT? None of these guys, let alone someone who sits on a local school board like Mr. Zajac, had to take this case, did they? Didn't they choose to bring this civil case forward? As in did something out of free will? Isn't that true? Why should anyone profit from the horrible death of an abused handicapped child? Are the lawyers involved in this case, involved in this henious civil suit doing pro-bono? Or are they donating ALL billable hours and fees and possible contingency fees to a charity that helps children? How can it be all about the kids if anyone profits at all from this case monetarily? How do you spin that? Now if they were insituting a class action suit on behalf of those children abused by Philadelphia DHS and the Philadelphia DHS system who are still alive, well that might be reasonable considering the history of Philadelphia DHS, right? But they are not, are they? They are sinking their teeth into a case that has tugged at all of our hearts since it first broke when little Danieal Kelly was reported dead, right? PA Watercooler has hit on something interesting: doesn't it seem strange that people would sue for the rest of Danieal's brothers and sister who are being publicly funded in foster care? Of course if these attorneys use this case as an excuse to challenge the First Amendment rights of others including a sitting Mayor of a major metropolitan city, it will just make it worse, right? Especially in Radnor where the public associates that school board and it's members with having serious issues over Sunshine Laws, Public Acocuntanbility and The Right To Know?

Read some of the updates starting with PAWatercooler:

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0bz3e8v0JjaFs/340x.jpghttp://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0elc0EKcN8dm6/340x.jpg
PAWatercooler:The Danieal Kelly Case: The plot thickens August 15 2008
Filed under Cities - Philadelphia, Issues - Crime by LisaMossie

I posted earlier this week about the sad story of Danieal Kelly’s death and a heinous wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of her “estate”. Danieal Kelly’s “estate” was, at the time, being managed by the same people who killed her: her parents. The Kellys have since “agreed to the court appointment of a trustee for the estate, waived their rights to participate in a wrongful-death lawsuit, ‘and understand they may not recover [money damages] in the end.’”

I was remiss in my earlier post by neglecting to comment on the two scum-sucking lawyers who filed the suit on behalf of the “estate”. Apparently the outrage over the hideousness of this lawsuit has caught at least one of these fine gentlemen completely unawares and he’s fighting back:
After four days of public vilification in which his professional ethics have been challenged, a lawyer for Danieal Kelly’s estate has hired his own attorney to try to “set the record straight.”

Veteran Center City litigator George Bochetto yesterday confirmed that he had been hired by Brian Mildenberg, one of two lawyers representing the estate of Danieal Kelly, the 14-year-old girl whose death by starvation in 2006 has resulted in criminal charges against her parents, family friends, and public and private social workers used by the city’s Department of Human Services.

Bochetto said he was astounded by the adverse publicity that had fallen on Mildenberg. He said he was planning a news conference for Monday to “set the record straight.”

“Brian Mildenberg is being vilified when he should be applauded for courageously taking on a difficult case out of a sense of professional responsibility,” Bochetto said.

Oh I see. This wasn’t despicable; it was noble because this blood money is for the chilllllldruuuun.

Apparently Mildenberg, and his partner in scum sucking, Eric Zajac, had nothing but the very best interests of Danieal’s nine remaining siblings (and themselves) in mind:

After Mildenberg and Zajac reinstituted the suit, Bochetto said, most reporters and media commentators wrongly assumed that the parents were trying to benefit from the death of their own daughter. The suit was filed in Common Pleas Court on Aug. 1, and removed to U.S. District Court on Aug. 5.....Instead, Bochetto said, the goal of the wrongful-death suit would be filed to provide money for the care of Danieal Kelly’s nine siblings, all of whom are now in foster care.

I must be missing something here. If the children are all in taxpayer funded foster care right now, how does suing the government for taxpayer funds benefit these children? Oh, that’s right: Without a lawsuit, Mildenberg and Zajac get no publicity or cut of the settlement.

Posted on Thu, Aug. 14, 2008
Stu Bykofsky: Danieal Kelly would be just SO proud of her parents
By Stu Bykofsky
Philadelphia Daily News
Daily News Columnist

DANIEAL KELLY, the 14-year-old, 42-pound decedent, would be proud that her parents are standing up for her, and her three sisters, five brothers and three half siblings.
Were the tortured teenager still alive, I'm sure she'd be nominating her parents, Andrea and Daniel Kelly, as Philadelphia Parents of the Year.

"Mommy Dearest" Andrea was charged on July 31 with murder and "Father Knows Best" Daniel was charged with child endangerment.

The next day, the parents sued the city for failing Danieal, it was widely reported.

Their attorneys insist that that reporting was wrong....If I were guilty of unspeakable cruelty resulting in the death of my daughter and I was thrown in jail, I'd hang myself. If I were too gutless for that, self-preservation would kick in and I'd be paying an attorney dedicated to getting me out.

I don't think my first impulse would be to recruit a money-grubbing jackal to sue the city.

That's not the way it went down, according to the two attorneys who separately were retained by Andrea and Daniel. The lawyers repeatedly emphasized that they represent the estate of Danieal Kelly, even though they were hired by the dead girls' parents. Andrea engaged Eric Zajac, while Daniel retained Brian Mildenberg.

Both lawyers are hot under the collar about reporting, and opinion, suggesting that they were retained just moments before or after mug shots were taken of the persons who hired them.

On Oct. 9, 2007, Daniel filed suit against the city in federal court...he withdrew the suit, but gave notice to Common Pleas Court of his intention to file there.

Danieal's parents are potential beneficiaries of her estate if they are not convicted of criminal or civil charges. If they are convicted, they are not eligible to be beneficiaries, which then will become all of Danieal's brothers and sisters.

To prove, I guess, that they're not doing this for the money, Andrea and Daniel have promised, if they escape conviction, to put one-third of any award into trust for the kids.

One-third. Wow!

Neither attorney could tell me what would happen to the other two-thirds.

Posted on Fri, Aug. 15, 2008
Lawyer for Danieal Kelly estate hires lawyer
By Joseph A. Slobodzian
Inquirer Staff Writer

After four days of public vilification in which his professional ethics have been challenged, a lawyer for Danieal Kelly's estate has hired his own attorney to try to "set the record straight."

Veteran Center City litigator George Bochetto yesterday confirmed that he had been hired by Brian Mildenberg, one of two lawyers representing the estate of Danieal Kelly, the 14-year-old girl whose death by starvation in 2006 has resulted in criminal charges against her parents, family friends, and public and private social workers used by the city's Department of Human Services.

Bochetto said he was astounded by the adverse publicity that had fallen on Mildenberg. He said he was planning a news conference for Monday to "set the record straight."....Although the notice of his hiring says Bochetto was asked to "review media coverage," Bochetto said he had not thought about the possibility of filing a slander or libel action against news media outlets or others because of the public criticism.

"My primary concern is to get the record straight and try to communicate the facts of this case," Bochetto added.

Bochetto said he had been hired only by Mildenberg and was not representing Mildenberg's cocounsel, Eric G. Zajac. Zajac yesterday could not be reached for comment.

Mildenberg and Zajac originally filed a wrongful-death suit in federal court in October against DHS and others on behalf of the Danieal Kelly estate.

The girl's parents, Andrea and Daniel Kelly, were listed as parties to the suit because they had been named administrators of their daughter's estate by the Philadelphia Register of Wills on Oct. 12, 2006, two months after the child's death.

But, according to court documents, the Kellys soon got into a dispute over how the estate's administrative duties were to be divided, and the suit was withdrawn last Oct. 29.

After Mildenberg and Zajac reinstituted the suit, Bochetto said, most reporters and media commentators wrongly assumed that the parents were trying to benefit from the death of their own daughter. The suit was filed in Common Pleas Court on Aug. 1, and removed to U.S. District Court on Aug. 5

The Nerve, The Gall… Or Why Lynne Abraham and I Are Both Fuming
Category: Law, Lots to say, Philadelphia – lawmummy – 8:10 am

Sometimes I have to remind myself that not all lawyers are bad. All jokes aside, the truth is that I know and work with many lawyers that are really good people, who try to do the right thing, who care about what happens to their clients - my husband is one of them.

Why, then, does being a lawyer often feel so dirty? Why do people constantly make jokes and criticize the profession in such an extreme fashion? Why are lawyers considered money-grabbing, immoral souls?

Maybe you should ask Eric Zajac and Brian Mildenberg.

They are the two lawyers who brought suit on behalf of Daniel Kelly and Andrea Kelly against the City of Philadelphia.

Right.

Daniel Kelly and Andrea Kelly are the parents who literally starved their own child to death, and allowed her to rot in her own feces in a West Philadelphia row home. Their daughter, Danieal Kelly, died at the age of 14, a victim of cerebral palsy and a victim of selfish, careless adults, including her own parents and members of DHS.

It seems that their selfish behavior has no boundaries.

The parents have filed a federal lawsuit (for the nonlawyers, that often means that they are seeking at least $50,000 in damages). alleging that the City and DHS deprived her parents and nine siblings (yes, nine) of her “love, tutelage, companionship, support, comfort and consortium” as well as the “economic value of her life expectancy.” I am not quite sure how Zajac and Mildenberg even wrote that with a straight face.

These parents clearly did not take advantage of Danieal’s “love, tutelage, companionship, support, comfort and consortium” while she was alive. They let her row in a pile of her own feces. They let her lie in a bed collecting giant bed sores. They starved her to death (she died weighing approximately the same weight as my 6 year old daughter).

And the “economic value of her life expectancy”? She was a severely disabled and impoverished child. While all life has value, it’s clear to all that Danieal was not expected to produce “economic value” during her life. She was more valuable to her parents dead than alive.

She’s also more valuable to the lawyers.

One wonders how many lawyers Daniel and Andrea Kelly went to, seeking to profit from the death of their own child, before Zajac and Mildenberg agreed to take their case. I hope that there were a number of them. And I hope that other lawyers were so horrified by what the Kellys were asking to do that they immediately asked them to leave...I’m sure they have some fabulous party line about how every one needs representation and how they’re doing it for Danieal, blah blah blah. They can spin any number of lines about this case. But you and I know the difference. We know that numerous adults failed this little girl during lifetime. And now adults continue to fail her after her death.

Right thinking from the Left Coast

Friday, August 15:Parents of the Year

by Hal_10000
So what do you do when you ignore your 14-year-old child with cerebral palsy until she dies of starvation with a death weight of 42 lbs? Well, obviously, you sue everybody in sight....It’s at times like this that my neutral position on the death penalty lurches to the right. Clearly, the social services failed. But social services are not supposed to substitute for basic humanity.

ORIGINAL POST:
So someone sends me a e-mail telling me to check out the article about the parents who in essence have been charged with essentially letting their young daughter (14?) with cerebral palsy starve to death...they said "Isn't that guy on Radnor School Board?"

Well, I looked and it is TRUE, a member of a fat cat Main Line School Board ( you know the same school board with "Sunshine" Issues) has one of it's members defending these parents, these despicable people. I know everyone is entitled to representation, but this litigation is a civil action, not some sort of defense, right? These parents and attorneys have chosen to initiate this action, so seriously, it makes you wonder if this guy is any good for Radnor, right?

Who is this lawyer? A guy named Eric Zajac. He even has his own school board web page. The funny thing is that his web page says "It's about the kids" and can you stand it? Is that what he says about the deceased kid, Danieal Kelly? Wow, just wow...you never know who who are electing anymore, do you? And isn't this guy on other Radnor Boards too? Here's his firm profile and old Smart Voter page.

I am very disappointed in lawyers right now. If this guy wasn't on a Main Line School Board, I wouldn't even comment....but I agree with Mayor Nutter - it's disgusting this lawsuit. It's not ambulance chasing, it's coffin chasing...

Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Mayor Disgusted By Lawsuit From Danieal's Parents

Mayor Nutter reacted with disgust a few minutes ago to a lawsuit filed by the parents of Danieal Kelly, the 14-year-old suffering from cerebral palsy who died two years ago from starvation. Her parents, facing criminal charges for her death, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against state and city on Aug. 1. The city's the Department of Human Services had been tasked with monitoring her care.

"This is unfortunately one of the most insane, obscene and disgusting things I've heard in all my public life," Nutter said after an unrelated news conference, according to PhillyClout's Catherine Lucey

Posted on Tue, Aug. 12, 2008
Danieal Kelly's parents, charged in her death, are suing for damages
By JULIE SHAW
Philadelphia Daily News
215-854-2592

The parents of 14-year-old Danieal Kelly face criminal charges in connection with her death, but have now also filed a lawsuit against their criminal co-defendants, blaming them for the girl's demise.

Danieal, as a recent Philadelphia District Attorney's Office's grand-jury report so gut-wrenchingly detailed, died two years ago of starvation while lying in her own feces, with flies buzzing around her mouth and maggot-infested bedsores ravaging her skeletal back.

Her mother, Andrea Kelly, 39, faces the most serious charges: murder and related offenses. It was in her Parkside house that Danieal's emaciated body was found. Danieal, who suffered from cerebral palsy, was reportedly kept in a dark room because her mother was embarrassed to take her outside.

The father, Daniel Kelly, 37, was charged with endangering Danieal's welfare and other offenses. He was not living with Danieal at the time of her death.

Both parents remain in custody and were not brought into court yesterday for a status listing of their criminal case.

The civil suit on behalf of the estate of Danieal Kelly was filed in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Aug. 1. The administrators of Danieal's estate are her parents. The suit, which seeks more than $50,000, has since been moved to federal court...Civil attorneys Brian Mildenberg and Eric Zajac, who filed the civil suit, contended yesterday that it would be wrong to paint Daniel and Andrea Kelly as money-grubbers.

"The parents are not seeking any money from this," Mildenberg said. "The potential beneficiaries are the brothers and sisters and the parents, but the parents may be disqualified by a conviction or a civil finding of abandonment."

If a jury decides that the estate should get money, Orphans Court would decide who the beneficiaries would be, the attorneys said. They said that Daniel and Andrea Kelly had to be named as administrators of the estate because they are Danieal's parents. They also said that the parents were aware before they were criminally charged that they may not benefit from a civil suit, and they contend that the parents' main concern in the suit is the welfare of Danieal's siblings.

"The beneficiaries could be these kids [Danieal's siblings], and that could be a positive outcome," Mildenberg said.

The attorneys confirmed that they filed the complaint on Aug. 1 because of an approaching two-year federal statute-of-limitations deadline. Danieal died on Aug. 4, 2006, so the suit, which contains federal civil-rights claims, had to be filed within two years of that date....Separately, attorney Zajac also filed a lawsuit Aug. 5 in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court on behalf of Troy Washington, now 19, the oldest of Danieal's siblings. The suit names the same entities and individuals as defendants.

It contends that Washington "has suffered substantial mental pain" from his sister's death.

Zajac said yesterday that Washington, who was 17 when his sister died, tried to kill himself afterward and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital.

"He viewed her dead body before she was removed by the Medical Examiner's Office," he said.