December 30, 2006

To whom it may concern:

I am the lawyer who represented the DeRosa family in their dispute with Joe Taylor over the allosaur that was featured in Vision Forum’s Raising the Allosaur video. The Internet is currently ablaze with accusations against the DeRosas regarding these matters. Joe Taylor has been fanning these flames with numerous statements on the Internet as well as an intense email and letter writing campaign dedicated to destroying the reputations of the DeRosas. Many have drawn inaccurate conclusions from the failure of the DeRosas to respond to the charges, assuming they must be guilty because of their silence in the face of such allegations. That is not the case. The DeRosas and Taylor attended a Christian mediation that resulted in (1) Taylor (and his two brothers) receiving $124,843.75 for his claimed interest in the allosaur and (2) all parties agreeing to stop the war of words.

In order to pay the Taylors their money, the allosaur was sold by the DeRosas to an unrelated third party for $200,000. (The new owner is permitting the allosaur to remain in the custody of the DeRosas, but it is not owned by them.) Despite only receiving $200,000 for the Allosaur, the DeRosas agreed to pay the Taylors the percentages they claimed based on the appraised value of $350,000 (less certain agreed-upon expenses). Accordingly, out of the $200,000 in proceeds, the Taylors received $124,843.75, or 62.42%. The DeRosas “received” the other $75,156.25, but $30,000 of that was actually withheld by the third-party purchaser of the Allosaur as repayment of a prior loan from that purchaser to the DeRosas and another $25,000 went toward attorneys’ fees. A mere $20,156.25 went to the DeRosas, and all of that actually went into Creation Expeditions, Inc. for ministry expenses; none of it went toward any salary or labor costs of any of the DeRosas.

A crucial component of the settlement agreement was an effort to stop the war of words that was dividing the Christian community. The agreement contained the following non-disparagement clause that was mutually agreed to by all of the Taylors and DeRosas:

“No party will disparage or defame any other party.. The parties expressly agree there will be no criticism by Taylor of the “Raising the Allosaur” movie. Taylor agrees not to distribute the movie known as “The Truth About the Raising of the Allosaur.” All parties agree to remove from their own websites or publications any derogatory comments about the Raising the Allosaur movie or about any party to this Settlement Agreement.

The DeRosas have chosen to abide by this agreement and to avoid anything that could be construed as “disparagement” of Taylor, even to the extent of remaining silent in response to the onslaught of disparagement by Taylor. Taylor has chosen otherwise.

I do not represent Doug Phillips or Vision Forum, but I do have a few observations about their role in this matter. Vision Forum’s representative attended the Mediation with the consent of all of the DeRosa and Taylor parties, subject to its agreement to honor the confidentiality of the mediation. (State law mandates that communications between parties in mediations are confidential, though the confidentiality does not extend to the written settlement agreement reached at the mediation.) Because of this, Vision Forum has not been at liberty to disclose confidential communications made at the mediation, and has been similarly reluctant to discuss the terms of the Settlement Agreement to which it was not a party. It too has therefore been constrained to silence amidst the flurry of accusations. Also, while I did not represent Vision Forum, it was my recommendation that Vision Forum cease distribution of the Raising the Allosaur video. I made this suggestion not because of any inaccuracies or falsehoods in the video, but because instead of bringing glory to Christ it had become a lightening rod for criticism and divisiveness. I had hoped that by removing the video from the marketplace, the criticism and divisiveness might end. Sadly, that has not happened.

On December 21, 2006 Taylor wrote the following on one of his Internet submissions:

If .. . . Pete DeRosa want(s) to challenge what I have said, we agreed in mediation that it could be brought back before the mediator for assessment. I would be glad to defend ANYTHING I have alleged.”

He will get his chance. The DeRosas have initiated arbitration proceedings with the mediator Taylor referenced. In the meantime, the DeRosas cannot directly address the charges leveled by Taylor without violating the non-disparagement agreement they signed. Suffice it to say that we believe the arbitrator, when presented with the evidence, will find the true facts to be very different from what Taylor would have the world believe in his Internet and other writings. We will ask the arbitrator to weigh all the evidence and issue a written opinion, to be made public, setting forth his findings on the factual disputes. We hope that Taylor will back his words of December 21st (above) by also agreeing in advance to the public dissemination of whatever the arbitral findings will be.

Until then, I would ask everyone who comes across any of the writings by Taylor or others on his behalf to reserve judgment and not to jump to conclusions based on unilateral gossip, hearsay, and embittered self-serving accusations.

Edward P. Watt
Watt Law Firm, P.C.
141 East Mercer, Ste. C
Dripping Springs, TX 78620