BishopAccountability.org
	Diocese Hires New Law Firm High-Powered Office to Take on Church's Varied and Complex Legal Needs As Lawyer of 35 Years Is Fired By Rita Ciolli Newsday [Long Island NY] June 12, 2005 Bishop William Murphy has terminated the services of George Rice, who has served as diocesan attorney for 35 years and has intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the local Catholic Church, and replaced him with a high-powered national law firm. As of September, the firm of Nixon Peabody, which has a local office of 42 attorneys in Garden City, will represent the Diocese of Rockville Centre, the largest nongovernmental employer and property holder on Long Island. "I think we are an excellent fit," said David DeCerbo, who opened the local office in 1989 and will be the firm's liaison. Sean Dolan, a spokesman for Murphy, said the change was made because of the complex and varied legal needs of the diocese, which has more than 200 separate corporations including its 134 parishes, schools and hospitals. Talk inside the diocese that Rice might be replaced began more than a year ago when Murphy began an assessment of the diocese's legal needs, according to sources in the legal community. "It just became clear to us that we needed a deeper bench, a firm that was able to handle more issues simultaneously," Dolan said. He said Rice "and his team have served the diocese honorably and competently." Rice said it was the bishop's "prerogative, and right" to switch attorneys. While acknowledging the diocese was a major client, he said the nine-attorney firm of Spellman Rice Schure Gibbons McDonough & Polizzi would seek new business and continue to represent the Village of Mineola, Mercy College and Adelphi University, and several religious orders. Rice is listed on the diocese's new incident-report sheet as one of three entities -- along with the local police precinct and delegate for the bishop -- who must be notified when a complaint involving a minor is filed against a diocesan employee. Dolan said Rice will continue in that role during the transition and that his firm may continue to work on projects. Nixon Peabody represents the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and three upstate dioceses, he said. Dolan said it was unclear whether anyone again would have the title of diocesan attorney. Robert Scholly became the first diocesan attorney when Long Island was created out of the Brooklyn Diocese in 1957. Rice, who joined Scholly's firm in 1970, replaced his partner in 1987, becoming the second person to hold that position. As diocesan lawyers, Rice and Scholly worked closely with local priests to establish many of the island's Catholic parishes and parochial schools. Rice also has served on the board of Catholic Health Services, which runs the diocese's five hospitals, and served on the board of St. Charles Hospital. Rice is a close personal friend of both Msgr. John Alesandro, former chancellor for the diocese, and Msgr. Alan Placa, former head of Catholic Health Services. The two priests were members of the diocesan intervention team that sought to deal with sex abuse allegations against priests. A Suffolk County grand jury report released in February 2003 found that the team, without citing any names, had concealed the possible criminal behavior of its priests and had used "deception and intimidation" in dealing with abuse victims. Both men have denied any wrongdoing. During part of the time that Placa and Alesandro were on the intervention team, they also were listed as "of counsel" on the letterhead of Rice's law firm. Rice said that was because it was the only way the two could obtain malpractice insurance. Asked whether the change signaled a clean sweep from the past, including Murphy's connection with Placa and Alesandro, Rice said no. "If something would have been done on that basis, it would have been done several years ago," he said. Alesandro, now the pastor of St. Dominic Church in Oyster Bay, and Placa, who works as a lawyer at Giuliani Partners, did not respond to requests for comment. In discussing the "unique challenges" facing the diocese, Dolan mentioned its long-running attempt to build a cemetery in Westbury, and the efforts by Telecare, its local cable channel, to become a national provider of programming.