2 Attorneys Ask to Withdraw From Dr. Asch’s Defense

Two attorneys who have represented Dr. Ricardo H. Asch in virtually all the 25 lawsuits pending against him said Friday they have filed a motion in Superior Court seeking to be removed as his counsel because he owes them more than $100,000.

David F. Brown and Ken E. Steelman of the Irvine firm of Corbett & Steelman also expressed outrage over Asch having “usurped” their role by turning over most of his defense to Lloyd A. Charton, who represented the famed fertility specialist at a series of depositions last weekend in Tijuana.

Asch has made it “unreasonably difficult for [Brown and Steelman] to effectively represent him and has failed to honor his obligation to pay attorneys’ fees and expenses,” the lawyers wrote in the 13-page motion filed Thursday with Orange County Superior Court Judge Leonard Goldstein.

But Charton said late Friday that Brown and Steelman would be paid. He insisted, however, that it was the University of California’s obligation to pay Asch’s expenses through what he called its lucrative insurance programs.

“Poor Dr. Asch,” Charton said. “How is he going to pay all these lawyers? The university has billions of dollars. We’ve asked them to pay Dr. Asch’s legal bills and those of the victims. Dr. Asch wants the victims paid. The problem is, once you decide someone is the sacrificial lamb, you have to stick to that poorly chosen path.”

Asch could not be reached for comment Friday. Ronald G. Brower, Asch’s criminal lawyer, also was unavailable. But Charton said that both he and Brower have been paid “up to this point.”

Byron Beam, the attorney representing the UC Board of Regents in legal actions against Asch, also said Friday that Brown and Steelman’s motion apparently revealed the existence of several patient files that university officials have said are unaccounted for.

According to Beam, the motion indicated that Brown and Steelman “sent patients’ charts and embryological records to Mr. Charton--which is the first we’ve known about that. Our understanding was that neither he nor his attorneys had those materials. At least, that’s what we were told. We would very much like to see those--and soon.”

But Melanie Blum, who represents 14 plaintiffs in suits against Asch, said that she and other plaintiffs’ attorneys have had no problem obtaining records from Steelman or Brown, who have, in her words, “given us whatever they had in their possession. . . . They’ve made no secret about them.”

Blum said that some records “are missing or unaccounted for” but that many of the files “are still not in the possession of Mr. Beam [the regents’ attorney] or Mr. Steelman, because I believe--although I don’t know for certain--that many have been seized by the FBI.”

Charton’s response to Beam’s assertion that certain patient files have suddenly turned up: “Byron is the university’s lawyer, and we’re hiding things from Byron Beam? That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard, and you can quote me.”

Brown and Steelman wrote in their motion that, since early December, they have made numerous unsuccessful attempts to reach Asch, through phone calls and faxes, at his office and residence in Mexico City.

Asch, who brought international renown to the Center for Reproductive Health at UC Irvine, is the subject of seven separate investigations.

Along with two of his partners, Asch is accused by UCI of taking the eggs and embryos of scores of women without their consent and implanting them in others. The trio also is being investigated by specialists in insurance fraud, financial wrongdoing and research misconduct. The three physicians have denied any wrongdoing.

With increasing regularity, Asch “has directed [Brown and Steelman] to turn over to [Charton] records necessary to the defense of all of these cases,” the motion reads, “while leaving [Brown and Steelman] responsible as counsel of record. [Brown and Steelman] believe that Asch’s conduct has rendered it unreasonably difficult to carry out representation of him effectively.”

The attorneys have requested a hearing on Feb. 9.