Jim Craven, the lawyer representing the disbarred former Durham district attorney, said in a federal court filing Friday that the three exonerated former Duke lacrosse players who are suing him cannot expect any money from Nifong.

"These creditors, certainly their counsel, have to know that they will never collect so much as $35 from Mike Nifong," Craven said in the response. "They must know that, yet still they come."

Former Duke University lacrosse players Dave Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann filed suit in October 2007, alleging that Nifong, the city of Durham and its police department played a key role in pushing forward with a gang-rape case that was flawed from the start.

The players spent nearly 13 months fighting charges that were dropped in April 2007 by state Attorney General Roy Cooper. Cooper took the unusual additional step of specifically declaring them innocent of the crimes alleged by an escort service dancer hired to perform at a lacrosse team party in March 2006.

In their civil suit, the players allege malicious prosecution, the concealment and fabrication of evidence, the utterance of false public statements, witness tampering and obstruction of justice.

In his response Friday, Nifong's lawyer disputed the players' claims of personal injury.

"We suggest this is nothing more than hyperbolic pleading, unworthy of belief without considerable more specificity," Nifong's response says. "Upon information and belief, all defense costs were paid or reimbursed by a non-party Duke University alumnus."

The players' claims of personal injury is one reason a federal bankruptcy court judge decided this spring to send the case back to federal District Court, where such issues are usually decided.

Nifong filed for bankruptcy protection on Jan. 15, a legal maneuver that put the players' malicious prosecution case on hold for months.

In the bankruptcy filing, Nifong listed assets of $243,898 and the potential debt of $180.3 million - including $30 million to each of the lacrosse players who had sued him at the time.

Bankruptcy rules would not have protected Nifong if a judge found that he willfully and maliciously prosecuted the players. So attorneys for the players argued that those legal matters should be heard first.

David Rudolf, the lawyer representing Seligmann, said his client was more interested in airing his complaints against Nifong than in any financial awards a jury might decide.

"This is not a question of $35 or 35 cents," Rudolf said at an April 24 hearing. "It's a question of assigning responsibility."

On Friday, Rudolf disputed Craven's claims that the case belonged in bankruptcy court.

"We allege intentional infliction of emotional distress," Rudolf said, "and those are personal injury claims. The law couldn't be any clearer."

The city of Durham, though, is the defendant with the deepest pockets, and already the cost of the case to taxpayers is mounting.

City officials expect to be reimbursed by their insurance company for payments of more than $500,000, up to a $5 million limit, according to its policy.

As of June, the city had paid $731,680 in legal fees and expenses to defend itself against three civil lawsuits.

Only three members of the 2006 Duke lacrosse team have not filed suit -- Matt Zash, a former captain; Matt Danowski, the current coach's son, and Kevin Mayer.

In February, lawyers of national renown brought forward a case for 38 members of the 2006 team and several parents.

Three other players sued separately in December.

In May, William L. Stocks, chief bankruptcy judge for the federal district that includes Durham, ruled that Nifong would not be able to hide in bankruptcy court from the malicious prosecution claims brought by Evans, Finnerty and Seligmann.

The three exonerated players seek not only unspecified damages, but also broad reforms in the Durham Police Department, including a court-appointed monitor who would preapprove police public statements and have the power to hire police chiefs, among other duties.

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