Paula Jones’ Top Lawyers Want To Quit

In a sign of turmoil among her advisers, the two top lawyers for Paula Corbin Jones sought Monday to withdraw from her sexual harassment lawsuit against President Clinton - citing “fundamental differences.”

Jones’ spokeswoman in Los Angeles brushed off their request to a Little Rock judge - “If they quit, they quit” - and accused the lawyers of misleading Jones.

Joseph Cammarata and Gilbert Davis expressed “full confidence” in the legal merits of Jones’ claims in papers filed in U.S. District Court here but cited “fundamental differences of opinion which have arisen … as to the future course of this litigation.”

Cammarata and Davis, who filed a $700,000 lawsuit against Clinton on Jones’ behalf three years ago, said they would further explain their reasons to a judge, preferably in private.

The rift developed after Cammarata and Davis urged their client to consider settling the claim against Clinton for $700,000 and a vague apology for any damage done to Jones’ reputation. The attorneys thought these were potentially the best terms they could get from Clinton - whose attorneys had not made a formal offer - and it represented close to what Jones sought when she sued, said officials familiar with the case but not tied directly to Cammarata and Davis.

Jones refused, and began interviewing other attorneys.

The officials familiar with the discussions, speaking on condition of anonymity, also said Cammarata and Davis also agreed to Jones’ condition that they receive one-third of any $700,000 settlement.

Clinton’s attorneys hoped the dispute in Jones’ camp would undermine Jones’ credibility. “This is a nasty and highly personal dispute amongst Paula Jones, her attorneys and her public relations representative, Susan Carpenter McMillan,” said the president’s top lawyer, Robert Bennett, in a statement Monday.