Want to See a Lawyer About to Get Beaten?
I know there's a lot of anti-lawyer sentiment and belief in "frivolous lawsuits" out there, and 95% of it stems from massive disinformation campaigns conducted by insurance companies trying to tilt the playing field against ordinary victims. Once in a while, though, a lawyer will come along and get behind a cause so ridiculous that people can shake their heads and renew their false belief that our court system is clogged with frivolous lawsuits.
James Madison (that muffled clattering sound you hear is a forefather rolling over in his grave) is one such lawyer.
If you want to take a look at a lawyer on the wrong end of jurisprudence, here is a video of James Madison discussing his theory of why Anthony Trezvant's family ought to recover for the loss of their security-guard's-throat-stabbing son. In a nutshell, he argues that if the security guard had just let the thief get away, then the thief would not have stabbed him in the throat, and so the security guard would not have been in a position to need to shoot the thief to save his own life.
Folks, this is not the practice of law. This is an attempt to shake down the Price Chopper corporation for a quick settlement. Extortion is too strong a word to describe what Mr. Madison is attempting in organizing a protest against the Brookside Price Chopper, but that's where I would open up my Roget's Thesaurus in my search for the correct word.
Why is Mr. Madison organizing protests even before he files his lawsuit? I suspect he knows the lawsuit isn't really worth the filing fee, and he's hoping that Price Chopper will respond for PR reasons rather than legal reasons.
Mr. Madison deserves credit, though, for amending a timeworn bit of trial lawyer wisdom. When the law is against you, argue the facts. When the facts are against you, argue the law. When both are against you, organize a protest.
Labels: law
posted by Dan at 3/26/2008 06:20:00 AM
14 Comments:
Good to see you criticizing this guy. He deserves it. I hope the family of the guard that the thief stabbed sues the family of the thief . . .
Price Chopper should sue for malicious prosecution if this thing really goes forward.
I agree with Dan, but disagree with both commenters thus far. The proper cure for most frivolous litigation is that the lawyer who pursues it loses lots of time and money chasing a worthless case.
Anonymous 1 - the family of the thief is not responsible for the thief's actions. Perhaps they could sue his estate, but nothing from nothing leaves nothing.
Anonymous 2 - Malicious prosecution is a tough case to make, and, even if they could make the case, Price Chopper probably wouldn't find many assets to go after. PC would be wiser to make its money in its stores, not in the courthouse.
The attorney will push this long enough to get something... anything from PC. How much do you think PC will pay to make any news of the shooting disappear?
Everytime the attorney makes some noise, people get second thoughts about visiting the store.
Darn - I thought I was going to get to see a video of a lawyer getting beaten!
My question to Dan. Do you think the lawyer is pushing the family to do this? Do you think they went to the attorney or the attorney came to them.
Rational people can become very irrational with a little prodding.
Lance nailed it. Price Chopper will offer a settlement to shut the idiot up...and then raise the price of their goodies to cover the settlement costs...and everybody who shops at Price Chopper will be stuck with the bill in the end. Bend over.
Most of you have been influenced too much by the insurance industries disinformation campaign. Neither an insurance company nor Price Chopper will likely pay out on this case unless there is a lot more to it than we have heard so far.
This ass clown Madison blew it by publicizing the situation. Price Chopper no longer has anything to lose in terms of bad publicity. In fact, they will probably draw sympathy from the public. Also, because Madison publicized the situation, Price Chopper will feel compelled to fight this so that others will not believe they are an easy target. I predict Madison gets nothing for himself or his client on this one. If he gets anything at all, it will be a kick in the ass by the judge. What a loser.
I have to think Anon at 5:38 has the most realistic take on this...
Anonymous 11:29-
I don't know how James Madison became involved with the family, but it doesn't much matter to me. Even if they sought him out, he should have refused to take such a weak case. And if he sought them out and convinced them to pursue such a weak case, he's the worst kind of lawyer.
Why is it that when someone does a crime and get hurt or killed other people have to suffer. If they weren't doing the crime in the first place then the end result would never happen.
Let's think about the security guard and his family! He was just doing his job and defending his life in the process. Now, he is trying to support his family while he is recovering - on what... How do you think they are getting alone, does anyone care? They are propably drowning in bills right now as most everyone lives from paycheck to paycheck. What will they do until he can fully return to work, even then will he fully recover? Will they end up losing where they live, their cars.....
Again, does anyone really think about him, his wife and their young children?
There is something wrong with the system when things like this can happen. People need to step up and stop this kind of crap. But everyone in this country is sue happy and will sue for anything and everything. That is why our courts rooms are so full that the ones that really do need to be punished sit for days, months or even years before they are handed down there sentence.
This case should be thrown right out the court room. And not waste the tax payers money. And I hope the Judge will give this attorney what he deserves.
Please just remember the security guard and his family in your prayers as they continue to try and survive and make it through all of this.
Folks - please remember that our judiciary has no patience for this type of garbage. They see the same thing you do and they don't enjoy wasting their time and our tax dollars on garbage cases. In fact, most trial judges lean pretty hard on attorneys to settle even the good cases. They can be downright nasty when they see this stuff. Trust me, attorney Madison is not improving his reputation with the local judiciary. The local bar is small enough that he may have permanently labeled himself as a hack. He may be a fine attorney, but this case will likely trash his reputation unless there is a lot more to it than we know about.
Anonymous 3/26 at 5:38 p.m.
Another hack within the local bar will hardly be noticed.
And some think the local judiciary has its own share of hacks.
There isn't much impressive about the KC Metro legal scene...except to starry eye law students at UMKC who think they have a glorious future.
Another hack within the local bar will hardly be noticed.
And some think the local judiciary has its own share of hacks.
There isn't much impressive about the KC Metro legal scene...except to starry eye law students at UMKC who think they have a glorious future.
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