A bitter end to the Clark-Tipps State Street Lobbying Firm
State Street founders fight over finances
Trustee to oversee end of powerful lobbying firm
Friday, January 9, 2009 3:13 AM
By Mark Niquette
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Neil S. Clark, right, said he's forming a new firm. Paul Tipps, left, asked for a trustee after saying Clark couldn't be trusted to dissolve their old one.
A trustee is being appointed to oversee the bitter end of State Street Consultants, the high-powered Columbus lobbying firm that once ruled Capitol Square.

Judge Julie M. Lynch of Franklin County Common Pleas Court is expected to issue an order today naming the trustee to handle the dissolution as part of the ongoing battle between firm founders Paul Tipps and Neil S. Clark.
Clark, meanwhile, said he's forming a new lobbying firm, Grant Street Consultants, with State Street's remaining employees and clients at 49 S. Grant Ave.
That was the outcome yesterday after a hearing in which Tipps took the stand to say that a trustee is needed because Clark, his former friend and partner, can't be trusted to manage the remaining assets and liquidation of State Street Consultants.
Tipps, 72, who retired at the beginning of 2006, accuses Clark of paying himself at least $1.5 million since then while not paying more than $300,000 in payroll taxes for the firm and more than $1 million in personal income taxes.
Clark also had his daughter and a woman living with him on the payroll, even though they did no work for the firm, and he used State Street employees to do work for Clark's separate lobbying business, Tipps alleges.
"Neil Clark is not only a good lobbyist; he's probably one of the very best lobbyists in the state," Tipps, a former chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, testified yesterday. "He is equally a disaster when it comes to managing his own finances and the finances of State Street Consultants."
Clark, 55, a one-time chief financial officer for Ohio Senate Republicans, denies diverting any money. It was understood by both men that State Street was being run like a family business, said Clark attorney Bob Behal.
Clark, in turn, has complained about an agreement to pay Tipps $45,833 a month for 57 months to buy the separate lobbying firm that Tipps operated before he and Clark became partners.
Clark's attorneys opposed Tipps' request to appoint a trustee, arguing that it wasn't needed and that the dissolution would not be complicated. They also questioned whether Tipps had the legal standing to make the request.
But the attorneys did not offer any witnesses to rebut the testimony from Tipps, an accountant for State Street Consultants and a snippet of a video deposition from Clark that was played as he watched from the courtroom.
"From this day forward, our clients will continue to be represented by me and my team of lobbyists under a new entity called Grant Street Consultants," Clark wrote in a statement after the hearing. "I am elated that it appears the court is dissolving the old firm and appointing a trustee to close the books."
Tipps said he intends to file an amended lawsuit against Clark, accusing him of improperly diverting funds. Clark has countersued Tipps on grounds that Tipps made defamatory statements that harmed his reputation.
The Joint Legislative Ethics Committee, which handles lobbyist registration and ethics compliance, got a call yesterday with an updated address for Clark and fellow lobbyists Aaron Ockerman, Andrew Minton and John Singleton.
The impact of the legal fight on Clark's clientele will not be known until Feb. 2, the registration deadline for lobbyists and their employers. Legislative Inspector General Tony Bledsoe said he has received a number of requests from lobbying firms asking for Clark's 2008 list of clients.