I have one question about this little legal problem. How much did Kurt Winter, attorney, get paid to handle the case? He lost, but he went down fighting. Sometimes you lose and that sucks. I mean, it's not like he blew the case. There are times you go down in flames and sometimes you don't. Okay, okay -- I'm sorry.
I have always had a problem with school rules that allow a 10-day suspension for a particular offense, to which the parents usually agree without having a full-blown hearing, and then permit the school to expel a student for the same violation. It is after the expulsion that the lawyer is called -- the horses are already out of the barn.
Enough of that. I'm wondering what the moms and dads did when they found out, besides appealing this unappealing situation, I mean.
Speaking of appeals, I have an appeal pending in the federal court of appeals, which may have some major effects upon the Americans with Disabilities Act; and I got a message from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals that opposing counsel contacted the court and indicated that I had not served them with a copy of the 700-page joint appendix, which consisted of all the documents cited in the parties' briefs. This was a "serious problem with the case" and I had to "report to the court" why I committed such an egregious gaffe, which the other side claimed had prevented them from properly preparing their brief. And the opposing counsel "called you numerous times and you never returned the calls," which meant that I was seeking to fuck up their case.
This was very disturbing, to say the least. I never got any messages from opposing counsel at any time in the last two or three months. I have known one of the lawyers on the other side for more years than I care to count right now. He sent me a Christmas card a few years back telling me that because I beat his ass in two trials that he couldn't get his wife a nice Christmas present. The other lawyer -- well ...
Here's the text of the e-mail I got from the lawyer I've known for many years:
Bill:
I have not been trying to call you. I did get a call from Colleen at ******'s office on Friday ( I had been out all of Thursday to a seminar in Columbus) She said that she had called my office on Thursday about the joint appendix and was told that we never received one. We scan everything onto our computer, so the secretary answering the phone checked on the computer and found no joint appendix on the computer. The reason it was not there though was that the way it was bound prevented it from being scanned. I informed Collen when she called me on Friday that we had received it and took our copy over to her. Apparently, in the meantime, Colleen or Linda called the Court and told the Court that we had never received the appendix. It seems as though this all arose because the final brief prepared by Linda and her staff did not refer to the joint appendix and the court called her on that.
Do you think that I heard from "Colleen" or "Linda?"
Posted by Bill at September 22, 2003 01:42 PM**raises hand in the air wildly** I know the answer! I know the answer.... NO NO NO
-d
Posted by: -d at September 22, 2003 03:10 PMone of the reasons I stopped practicing was being sanctioned for just this sort of thing - I KNOW that opposing counsel never sent me his notice of motion to dismiss my case - because if he had I'd have filed the 50 pages of pleadings I'd already prepared and shown him in opposition - instead, he dismissed his motion (serving me with notice of dismissal) and then refiled without noticing me, though he told the court he had - he then won on a default and I had to move to set it aside - I won that motion but lost sanctions and I'm still bitter. Hope it works out better for you.
Posted by: dan at September 22, 2003 03:19 PMThat would be a hell no.
Posted by: kathy at September 22, 2003 06:01 PMNo
Posted by: Anji at September 23, 2003 07:08 AM