Lawyer who had sex with teens seeks bonus (MORE, CLICK HERE)

Lawyer who had sex with teens seeks bonus from law firm
BY JOSE MARTINEZ
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER - Saturday, December 29, 2007

A disgraced lawyer who paid a mother to allow him to have sex with her underage daughters is looking for a payday of his own - from the elite law firm where he once worked.

James Colliton is suing Cravath, Swaine & Moore for $1.45 million, accusing the white-shoe firm of stiffing him on an annual bonus, salary and vacation pay.

Reached by phone at his home in Poughkeepsie, the convicted sex offender refused to talk about his suit, which was handwritten on notebook paper.

"It's all in there," Colliton said.

The 43-year-old tax lawyer formerly earned $500,000 a year at Cravath, Swaine & Moore - where first-year associates make six-figure salaries with bonuses of $35,000.

Colliton cried poverty last year, saying he didn't have enough cash to pay his lawyer.

Now he wants his former employer to line his pockets with money for allegedly shorting him on salary and bonuses.

"The [firm] has breached its promise to pay [Colliton] a 'make-up bonus,' " he wrote.

Colliton accused bosses at the firm - where he worked from 2000 until his March 2006 arrest - of inflicting "emotional distress" by snooping on his phone calls and e-mails.

A spokesman for the 188-year-old firm did not return calls.

The so-called Lolita Lawyer served 19 months in jail after pleading guilty to repeatedly having sex with sisters who were 15 and 13 years old when they met Colliton.

jmartinez@edit.nydailynews.com