Paul R. Rosen would not say whether the move was a precursor to a lawsuit. "Upon completion of this investigation, Alycia will then determine what course of action is in her best interest," Rosen said.

Rosen asked Common Pleas Court to issue a writ of summons. He wants to take depositions from CBS3 president Michael Colleran and news director Susan Schiller in connection with Lane's firing on New Year's Day, about two weeks after she was arrested in New York and accused of hitting a police officer.

Lane, who received no severance in her dismissal, on Jan. 2 hired Rosen, of the Center City firm Spector, Gadon & Rosen.

"It is our position that KYW 3 terminated Alycia Lane based on inaccurate press reports, innuendo, rumor and gossip," Rosen said. "What has been filed [today] is to determine the facts and circumstances surrounding the reasons why KYW 3 terminated Alycia, which appear to be contrary to the express terms of her contract. This procedure is to examine KYW 3's motives and actions for the conduct it expressed when it went public to terminate Alycia."

Rosen, seeking reams of documents from CBS3, claims that the station did not notify Lane in writing that she'd been terminated and never set forth the reason for her firing. Rather, he writes, CBS3 made the firing "the lead story on its own afternoon newscast" on Jan. 7.

In a Jan. 7 statement, Colleran said: "After assessing the overall impact of a series of incidents resulting from judgments she has made, we have concluded that it would be impossible for Alycia to continue to report the news as she, herself, has become the focus of so many news stories. We wish to make clear that we are not prejudging the outcome of the criminal case against Alycia that is pending in New York. We understand that Alycia expects to be fully vindicated in that proceeding."

In effect, Lane had become the news, rather than reporting the news.

A CBS3 spokeswoman said today, "We've seen the filing. There is nothing new here. We believe we made our position on this matter clear in our previous statements."

Rosen seeks Lane's personnel file, documents surrounding the firing and investigation and documents surrounding the firing of other reporters, and specifically "any other anchor or reporter of Latina descent, African American descent or the descent of any other minority group."

Rosen also seeks CBS3 documents relating to "Dr. Phil" McGraw, with whom Lane appeared twice to talk about her relationship issues; sports anchor Rich Eisen and his wife, Suzy Shuster, likely relating to last spring's "bikini-gate" brouhaha; Prince Albert of Monaco, whom the New York Post intimated that Lane had danced a mite too closely with; and former Lane husbands Dino Calandriello and Jay Adkins.

Lane's five-year contract began in May 2006. Her salary, not including bonuses, was about $700,000 a year. She was released without pay.

She was last seen on the air on Dec. 14 - about 261/2 hours before she was arrested in Lower Manhattan. Her case there is listed for April 3. Her criminal attorney, David Smith, had no comment about today's filing.

Rosen, known as a tenacious litigator, has a high-profile client list including David Cutler in his years of legal battles against his former wife, 6ABC anchor Monica Malpass, and TV personality Larry King in his divorce against Julia Alexander King.