By Rob Olmstead
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Wednesday, August 03, 2005

Former Emerald Casino attorney Michael Ficaro sued another attorney and his firm Tuesday, alleging the firm libeled him when it submitted to bankruptcy court affidavits by a former FBI agent and a mob mole.

Ficaro sued David Missner and his firm, DLA Piper, Rudnick, Gray, Cary U.S., LLP, in Cook County circuit court’s law division.

Ficaro alleges in the suit that he represented one party in a shareholder dispute and Missner an opposing party. Missner, the suit claims, defamed Ficaro when he filed the documents in open court, where they became part of the public record. Portions of the affidavits were subsequently published in the Chicago Sun-Times and Daily Herald.

The affidavits claimed Ficaro had associations with mob figures such as Pat Marcy and that Ficaro was forced to resign from the Illinois attorney general’s office after he was recorded in wiretaps by federal investigators.

Ficaro denied those accusations at the time, pointing out he had left the attorney general’s office six months before even being approached about the wiretaps. He also said the affidavits, by former FBI agent Francis N. Marrocco and mob mole Robert Cooley, were simply false.

Missner could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Ficaro is represented by attorney Robert Clifford, who is also representing Emerald Casino in its current license revocation hearing before the Illinois Gaming Board.