MAHONING COUNTY Couple win suit against attorney

The couple said bad legal advice forced them into bankruptcy.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A Mahoning County jury awarded $250,000 to a Poland couple who had sued their former lawyer.
"I think it was fair," said Atty. Geoffrey L. Eicher of Akron on Monday. "Their [the jurors] verdict speaks for itself."
Eicher represented Thomas and Elizabeth Unick of Van Drive. They sued Atty. Damian DeGenova of Youngstown in September 2002, alleging that DeGenova was negligent in handling a legal matter for Thomas Unick.
Neither DeGenova nor his lawyer, Thomas J. Wilson, could be reached to comment.
Sale of stock
Court documents say DeGenova represented Thomas Unick in the sale of stock shares to a sheet metal fabricating business in which Unick had been a major stockholder.
As part of the sale agreement, Unick wanted to be released from liability for a Small Business Administration loan that the company was repaying.
The sale agreement, prepared by another lawyer who represented the company, included language that Unick would indeed be released from the loan obligation, Eicher said.
But after the stock sale was completed, the bank that held the loan refused to release Unick from that obligation.
That caused Unick to suffer substantial financial losses and ultimately forced him to file for bankruptcy protection, Eicher said.
The couple sued, saying DeGenova should have called the bank to verify whether it would release Unick from the loan obligation before he recommended that Unick sign the sale agreement.
"He should have verified what his adversary was saying in that contract and he didn't do it," Eicher said.
In court documents, Wilson said efforts were made to get Unick released from the loan obligation both before and after the sale agreement was signed, but were unsuccessful.
Eicher said jurors deliberated about three hours Friday in common pleas court before being sent home for the weekend by Judge Maureen A. Sweeney.
They resumed deliberating Monday, returning the verdict after about an hour.
bjackson@vindy.com