The attorney for Mootz Candies of Pottsville said Tuesday he hopes the $2 million lawsuit against the contractors who built Union Station will be settled in January or February.
In August, Michael J. Fiorillo, Pottsville, the attorney for the family which owned the chocolate factory, said the parties decided to try to settle the case through mediation.
"We are still in the process of trying to arrange for the mediation. The hold up was one of the contractors, William H. Lane, wanted to switch lawyers," Fiorillo said Tuesday.
On Oct. 29, an attorney who specializes in construction litigation, Glenn M. Campbell of William J. Ferren & Associates, Blue Bell, Montgomery County, entered his appearance in the case.
Campbell could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
"So new counsel got involved and he needed time to get up to speed. They also wanted an appraiser to look at the building. The other defendants wanted an appraiser in too," Fiorillo said.
The former chocolatier closed its 220-222 S. Centre St. factory and store in July 2010 due to alleged damages caused by the construction of Union Station. On Jan. 11, the owner, Joseph Edgar "Ned" Buckley, filed a $2,750,000 lawsuit in county court against three of the station's contractors.
The three defendants in this case are the prime contractor, William H. Lane, Binghamton, N.Y., and two subcontractors, H.T. Sweeney & Co. Inc., an excavator from Brookhaven, Delaware County, and Berkel & Co. Contractors Inc., a driller from Pasadena, Md.
On Feb. 19, Buckley, 54, of Deer Lake, died unexpectedly at his home. His survivors include his wife, Sharon J. Ege Buckley; sons, Kirk Freed, Orwigsburg, and Jeremy Freed, Schuylkill Haven; and daughters, Shannon Smith and Madeline Buckley, both of Deer Lake, according to his obituary.
In the will, Joseph Buckley named his wife, Sharon, as the executor, Fiorillo said.
"Now we're just trying to schedule a date for the mediation," Fiorillo said Tuesday.
The parties are working to schedule that mediation date with ADR Options, an agency based in Philadelphia, Fiorillo said.
"We're going to be subject to the mediator's schedule but I'm hoping it will be in January," Fiorillo said.