Former Syracuse Assistant Basketball Coach Bernie Fine to Face Lawsuit in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County

Invited by Fine on road trip in 2002, Zach Tomaselli says he was abused in Pittsburgh hotel room

Civil Lawsuit to be announced at Pittsburgh news conference today

At a news conference today in Pittsburgh, Attorneys Jeff Anderson and Alan Perer will announce a civil lawsuit to be filed on behalf of Zach Tomaselli.  Tomaselli, the 23 year-old Maine man who claims that as a 13 year-old he was sexually abused by Bernie Fine in a Pittsburgh hotel room will attend the news conference and speak to his abuse.  The complaint, to be filed today in Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas names Fine as the sole defendant.

WHEN 
Thursday, December 8, 2011 at 11 A.M. EST

WHERE
Offices of Swensen, Perer & Kontos
One Oxford Centre
Suite 2501
Pittsburgh, PA

Attorney Jeff Anderson is a nationally known St. Paul, Minnesota-based trial lawyer widely recognized as a pioneer in sexual abuse litigation.  Anderson has offices in cities across United States, is licensed to practice in Pennsylvania, and most recently has filed several clergy abuse lawsuits arising out of the Philadelphia Grand Jury Report, and a lawsuit arising out of the Penn State sexual abuse scandal.  Over nearly three decades Anderson has represented thousands of survivors of sexual abuse by authority figures.

Attorney Mike Finnegan has worked all aspects of childhood sexual abuse litigation for Jeff Anderson & Associates, including a significant case against the Boy Scouts of America in Colorado, clergy abuse cases in numerous states, vulnerable adult sexual abuse and discrimination cases. His law review article on the statute of limitations for survivors of childhood sexual abuse in Minnesota was published in 2004 and has been widely acclaimed in the halls of legal academia and by those seeking legislative relief for victims of childhood sexual abuse who are burdened by unrealistically short statutes of limitation. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Yale University in 1999 and his Juris Doctorate from William Mitchell College of Law in 2004.

Attorney Alan Perer is a partner in the Pittsburgh, PA law firm Swensen, Perer & Kontos.  In Peter’s distinguished career he has represented survivors of sexual abuse by authority figures and consistently advocated not only for the rights of his clients but also for the public’s right to be free of dangers created by the neglect or recklessness of corporations and other powerful institutions. An elected member of the Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County and Best Lawyers in America, he has also served on the Alumni Board for the University of Pittsburgh, School of Law, and is Pittsburgh Chapter President of the INBLF, which is an international organization of premier boutique law firms.

Note: Copies of the civil complaint for this lawsuit will be available at the news conference in Pittsburgh and also online at www.AndersonAdvocates.com at approximately 10 A.M. EST on Thursday.

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