Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 10, 1990                   TAG: 9004100352
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DOUGLAS PARDUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

JUDGE WON'T FILE CHARGES OVER LAW BILL

However, U.S. District Judge James Turk said he still wants the law firm of Boone, Beale, Carpenter and Cosby to significantly reduce the fee it charged Mabel L. Ruthkowski.

And, he said, he wants to handle the matter through the court and is considering scheduling a hearing before a federal magistrate to determine what fee would reasonable. He would then review the magistrate's finding, Turk said.

The amount of a fee normally is a private matter worked out between attorneys and clients. But, Turk said, federal judges have some authority to regulate fees in certain types of cases.

He said he normally would not get involved.

In the Ruthkowski case, however, Turk was so angry when he learned the amount of the fee that he publicly scolded Ray Carpenter, who represented Ruthkowski.

In October, during Ruthkowski's sentencing hearing, Turk told Carpenter that he wanted the fee cut in half. He told Carpenter that if the fee was not reduced he would file a complaint with the ethics committee of the Virginia State Bar, which regulates lawyers in the state.

"It's just not right to take money like this from . . . this poor person," Turk said. Turk refused to listen to Carpenter when Carpenter tried to explain that the fee had been negotiated with Ruthkowski by a senior member of the law firm.

David E. Boone, the senior member of the firm who negotiated the fee, said at the time that the fee would not be returned, and he accused Turk of overstepping his authority. He said the fee was reasonable for the work. Carpenter pointed out that Ruthkowski did avoid jail, unlike some of her co-defendants.

She pleaded guilty to one count of violating immigration laws by faking migrant worker documents to help some Pakistani citizens illegally remain in the United States under an amnesty program.

Turk released Ruthkowski on probation for two years, and told her "you could have done just as well on your own" without an attorney.

Although Boone said at the time that his firm would not return the fee, Turk delayed taking any action to see if the firm would relent. He also wanted to find out if Ruthkowski wanted a refund.

Turk subsequently received letters from Ruthkowski and from her probation officer saying that she wanted a refund and that her attorney told her the fee was fair and she wouldn't get any back.

Jimmie F. Daniel, the federal probation officer handling her case, told Turk that Ruthkowski may lose her 25-acre Cumberland County farm. He said she is working two jobs to keep up payments on a second mortgage she took out to pay her attorney.

In her letter to Turk, Ruthkowski said she told her attorneys "they are putting a 60-year-old woman out in the street. . . . I don't know how long I will be able to keep it up."

She said she agreed initially to pay $5,000, and sold her cows to come up with the money. She said she later agreed to pay $20,000 more only because she didn't know what else to do. "They kept telling me that I would go to jail.

"If you could please help me to try to get some of my money back, I will appreciate it so very much," she wrote Turk.

Carpenter said that he was unaware of the letters and unaware that Turk was considering ordering a magistrate to conduct a hearing on the matter. He indicated that $25,000 is not the correct amount Ruthkowski was charged, but he refused to reveal the exact amount. He declined to discuss the case, except to say "interesting . . . most interesting."