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As with many such agreements, the deal swore both sides to secrecy and ended the dispute without anyone admitting they were at fault.
Though the settlements required them to pay Roberts, the lawyer insisted in court that he never demanded money from the men and that their payments bought them more than secrecy.
Roberts and Lemler, West's attorney, fenced over that very question in a March 2002 hearing before Judge Casseb.
Over and over, Lemler asked if Roberts had sought money from the men.
"No," he insisted.
Lemler tried again.
"You did not to seek to obtain money from these individuals?"
"There is a very long answer to that question," Roberts replied.
Finally, Lemler honed in on specifics. One by one, she tried to get Roberts to reveal the amounts the men paid individually.
When they got to the Austin attorney and the $30,000 he gave Roberts, Lemler went back to the question she really wanted answered.
"And what," she said, "did (the attorney) receive for his $30,000?"
Roberts was unfazed.
"A release, a hug, believe it or not, and a sense of relief that he'd done the right thing."
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