Ex-lawyer dropped from wrongful death lawsuit
By JAMAL THALJI
Published June 24, 2007
His marriage. His law practice. His career.
All gone. John Majestic lost it all.
The beginning of his end was a 2004 lawsuit accusing the New Port Richey lawyer of having an affair with -- and taking money from -- a bipolar woman whose divorce he handled.
That client, Donna Roth, committed suicide on May 30, 2004.
The wrongful death lawsuit accused Roth's psychologist, Darlene Williams, and her attorney and paramour, Majestic, of contributing to her death.
Now it seems that the ex-lawyer lost so much in the years since that he's no longer worth suing.
At his request, Majestic was recently dropped from the civil suit that helped undo his life.
"He's lost his livelihood, he lost his reputation, he lost his license to practice his profession," said Roth family attorney Brett Alan Geer. "I think my client feels like not much more can happen to Mr. Majestic."
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The original suit accused Majestic of preying on his vulnerable client, taking thousands of dollars in gifts and loans from Roth while he represented her.
The suit also accused Williams of condoning Roth's adulterous, unethical relationship with the lawyer as healthy for her patient.
The latest version of the wrongful death suit focuses on Roth's psychologist.
While it doesn't make the same allegations of financial wrongdoing against Majestic, however, his relationship with Roth is still key in the lawsuit.
Majestic admitted the affair to the Times in 2004. But he disputed the financial improprieties the original lawsuit accused him of. He said Roth initiated the affair.
He declined to comment for this story. Instead, he referred questions to his bankruptcy attorney, David Schrader of St. Petersburg.
Jason Roth, 30 of California, referred all questions about the lawsuit he filed on his mother's behalf to his Tampa lawyer, Geer.
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Majestic's life already may have been unraveling before Donna Roth took her own life at age 52.
Federal records show Majestic and his wife, Jacqueline, filed for bankruptcy days before Roth's suicide. It is unclear what caused their financial problems.
But "his bankruptcy had nothing to do with our making the case public," said Roth's 75-year-old father, Donald Farnam.
Majestic is accused of taking more than $20,000 and a car from Roth. Donald and Maude Farnam said Majestic assured their daughter he wasn't going to list her as a creditor -- he vowed to pay her back.
But Majestic did name her as a creditor, the parents say. Roth got the letter days before she took her own life.
"It destroyed her," Donald Farnam said. "She realized all of his lies about how he was going to pay her back."
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Soon after Roth's family filed the suit against him, Majestic closed his New Port Richey civil and criminal law practice.
Roth's parents said they filed a complaint against Majestic with the Florida Bar.
In 2004, Majestic vowed to fight the civil suit and the Bar complaint. "We're going to try to get to the truth," he told the Times then.
Instead, Majestic headed off the Bar in October 2005 by giving up his law license after 22 years. The Bar accepted his resignation and closed the case.
The bankruptcy, giving up his practice and his law license -- to the Farnams it all looked like Majestic was shielding himself from what was coming.
"It was not our intention in any way to destroy anyone's life," said Donald Farnam. "His life was destroyed, apparently by the things he did which became public knowledge."
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The Majestics were destroyed, their lawyer said. Majestic can petition to get back his law license in 2010. But without it, Majestic and his wife struggled, according to their lawyer.
"I know he was having a very difficult time finding employment and making the payments (to creditors)," Schrader said.
They could no longer afford Chapter 13 bankruptcy, which gave them time to pay creditors, their lawyer said. So in March 2006 the Majestics had to file for the more difficult Chapter 7 bankruptcy. They liquidated all but a few assets, such as their home.
"He had gone through all his savings, his retirement accounts, he really didn't have anything," Schrader said. "They were really, totally financially devastated."
Last year, Schrader said, the Majestics separated.
John Majestic, 58, has finally found work, but his lawyer declined to say what kind.
"It's not in the legal field," Schrader said.
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Majestic's dismissal from the wrongful death suit may be the only detail that hasn't been fought tooth and nail over the years the lawsuit has crawled through the courts.
The reason he was dropped? Both sides will still fight over that.
Geer said that after Majestic's firm was no more and his assets were liquidated in bankruptcy court, what was the point?
"He's basically judgment-proof anyway," Geer said. "So why continue to fight?"
He added: "You can't get blood out of a rock."
But Schrader said the plaintiffs didn't file a claim against Majestic in federal bankruptcy court, so they cannot collect in circuit civil court.
"Basically it was dropped because they didn't pursue the claim in the bankruptcy," Schrader said, "and therefore the debt was discharged."
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Majestic isn't done in court yet, however.
Geer said Majestic will be subpoenaed to testify about his affair with Roth in the civil suit against the psychologist. The trial is planned for later this year.
In court, Majestic will no longer be held accountable for his actions.
But on the stand, he will still have to answer for them.
"We believe he's ethically and morally liable," Geer said, "if not legally."
Times researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report. Jamal Thalji can be reached at thalji@sptimes.com or (727) 869-6236.