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Developer Suing New York AG, Law Firms

ALBANY, New York – As reported by the New York Times Union: "A Rochester developer with a contract to build an Indian casino in central New York is accusing former Attorney General Dennis Vacco and his partners in Albany law and lobbying firms with major ethical and professional breaches.

"Thomas C. Wilmot Sr., chairman and owner of Wilmorite Corp., says in a lawsuit that Vacco and other officials with the Crane, Vacco lobbying firm violated confidentiality and loyalty duties, encouraged an Indian tribe to double-cross him and broke codes of conduct for lawyers. He alleges Vacco and associates worked with competing interests, foiling a casino venture Wilmot started four years ago.

"The charges are part of an ugly business divorce unfolding in state Supreme Court in Albany between Wilmot and lobbyists and lawyers associated with two Crane firms.

"Wilmot had been paying Vacco's lobbying firm and its predecessor, Powers, Crane, $15,000 monthly -- more than $131,000 in the past two years -- to represent Caywil, a company he formed to build a casino in the Finger Lakes region with the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma. Wilmorite has also been using the Crane lobbying firm.

"…The Crane law firm is suing Wilmot for failing to pay $507,900 in legal fees out of about $1 million it billed him since April 2003…"

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