Judge Bars Claims on Clemmons' Insurance

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Victims of disbarred and jailed Nashville lawyer John E. Clemmons cannot recoup any of their $1 million in losses from the malpractice insurance policy maintained by the once prominent local attorney.
In an 11-page decision U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr ruled that the Hanover Insurance Co. has no obligation to defend or indemnify Clemmons who is currently serving an 18 year prison sentence for stealing well over $1 million from estates and conservatorships he was assigned to protect.
Describing Clemmons as "an estate lawyer who stole from his clients," Crenshaw rejected the arguments by Paul Gontarek, who was named to replace Clemmons in two cases after the former lawyer's misdeeds became public. 
Gontarek  was seeking to collect an estimated $300,000 for the estate of William Link and the conservatorship of Donald Griggs.
As Crenshaw noted, Clemmons was first named as the conservator of Link, then took on his estate as administrator and became the trustee of a special needs trust established for Link's disabled daughter.
The decision comes shortly after another court ruling set back attempts to recoup some of the lost money from Metro government. Last week Senior Judge Ben Cantrell ruled in a Davidson Circuit Court case that Metro was not liable even though probate court officials let Clemmons go for years without filing required annual accountings.
Gontarek had argued in that case that had the clerk's office done its job, the thefts would never have occurred or at least been uncovered much sooner.
In the federal case Crenshaw cited provisions in Clemmons' malpractice policy setting an exclusion for "committing any intentional , dishonest, criminal, malicious or fraudulent act or omission."
In addition he concluded that "without question Clemmons had a subjective and objective knowledge Hanover Insurance would not provide him coverage for stealing from his clients' estates."
The judge also rejected Gontarek's effort to collect on the Hanover policy claiming Clemmons was negligent by failing to obtain the required level on a bond filed in the cases.
Crenshaw found that claim was filed too late and did not meet the deadlines set in the policy.
"Clemmons knew the nature of the injury he had inflicted on his clients," Crenshaw concluded.
"The substantial cause of the loss to the estate was Clemmons's theft of funds."
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