A federal judge has ordered that former Durham district attorney Mike Nifong be dropped from the civil suit filed by the three exonerated Duke lacrosse players until his bankruptcy proceedings are resolved.

James A. Beaty, the federal judge who entered the order on Monday, left open the possibility that Nifong could be added to the suit again.

Nifong, the former Durham prosecutor who was disbarred last year for misconduct in the lacrosse case, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in federal court Jan. 15, the deadline for responding to a civil lawsuit brought by Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and Dave Evans.

Filing the petition put any civil actions against Nifong on hold while a bankruptcy judge sorts out the case.

Bankruptcy rules would not protect Nifong from financial claims if a judge finds that he "willfully and maliciously" injured the players in what the state attorney general described as his "rogue" prosecution of phony gang-rape allegations.

In the bankruptcy petition filed this month, Nifong listed assets of $243,898 and potential debts of $180.3 million -- a projected $30 million each to Evans, Finnerty and Seligmann, and projected $30 million each to three other players who were not charged but who filed civil claims late last year.

In their lawsuit, filed in federal court in Greensboro, the exonerated players allege that Nifong, the city of Durham, the DNA laboratory hired by Nifong and others associated with the case conspired to falsely charge the former Duke students with rape. The charges stemmed from a team party in March 2006.

The suit contends that Nifong, Durham police and others conspired to charge the players even though they knew that the allegations were "a total fabrication."

Earlier this month, David Rudolf, an attorney for Seligmann, said he and other lawyers on the team did not plan to let Nifong hide in bankruptcy court. He said they will argue that Nifong maliciously and intentionally went after the players long after he knew the charges were unwarranted.