BP, get the spoons.....

[ducpainter]

I want my cut

[CowboyBeebop]

With all the talk of personal responsability, I'm surprised you guys don't blame the client for initiating the lawsuit.   It takes a greedy asshole client before anything else can be done.

And Bar Associations, while strong lobbyists, often are the driving force for tort reform because the BS cases make legit ones more difficult.   You guys (and I guess most people) have quite skewed ideas of what lawyers actually do and what they actually can do.

and the politicians taking care of lawyers?  tinfoil hat time? 

Now excuse me, I have to get back to the secret meeting where all the high power people sit around and think of ways to get richer while screwing all the sheeple.

Well, I use to be lobbyist by trade, so I do know a little about the profession, who the players are, and what they do.  I can tell you with all certainty that there is no tin-foil-hatting going on when people discuss the trial lawyers association and what they do to defeat tort reform legislation whenever it rolls around (ussually every four or five years or so).  I could dig up the statistics (donations to, positions of, etc.), but I don't feel like making that effort.  If you want to, they are easily enough found with a little effort. 

As for clients, I actually don't hold them too responsible.  They're just people (often poor, often uneducated) who got hurt and are angry about it.  They don't know the law, they just feel wronged, rightly or wrongly.  Its the lawyers who tell them that they are a victim, and that they'll help them get the money they (don't) deserve.  And they don't have to pay a dime to do it - just give the attorney their 40% (!) if they win.  Its no secret that many personal injury attorneys regularly check police reports to find clients.  I've had it happen to me.  I was rear-ended, and got a call that night from a lawyer who wanted to see if I wanted to sue.

I understand you're an attorney, and obviously not all of them are bad.  In fact, most of them do very important things that have nothing to do with chasing ambulances.  But the ones who do are generally pretty despicable people who exploit the law and society for their own gain. 

[TiAvenger]

Well, I use to be lobbyist by trade, so I do know a little about the profession, who the players are, and what they do.  I can tell you with all certainty that there is no tin-foil-hatting going on when people discuss the trial lawyers association and what they do to defeat tort reform legislation whenever it rolls around (ussually every four or five years or so).  I could dig up the statistics (donations to, positions of, etc.), but I don't feel like making that effort.  If you want to, they are easily enough found with a little effort. 

As for clients, I actually don't hold them too responsible.  They're just people who got hurt and are angry about it.  They don't know the law, they just feel wronged, rightly or wrongly.  Its the lawyers who tell them that they are a victim, and that they'll help them get the money they (don't) deserve.  And they don't have to pay a dime to do it - just give the attorney their 40% (!) if they win.  Its no secret that many personal injury attorneys regularly check police reports to find clients.  I've had it happen to me.  I was rear-ended, and got a call that night from a lawyer who wanted to see if I wanted to sue.

I understand you're an attorney, and obviously not all of them are bad.  In fact, most of them do very important things that have nothing to do with chasing ambulances.  But the ones who do are generally pretty despicable people who exploit the law and society for their own gain. 

In this case though, the "victim" and her father clearly know their in the wrong, and just dont care.

[NAKID]

"The injuries and property damage sustained by (Shelton and her family) were not the result of intentional acts..."

Really? Did she "accidentally" get drunk?  I make the beast with two backsing hate people like this. Her father (the judge) should be ashamed of himself for letting his family members act this way. He is and should be held to a higher standard....

[Oldfisti]

Really? Did she "accidentally" get drunk?  I make the beast with two backsing hate people like this. Her father (the judge) should be ashamed of himself for letting his family members act this way. He is and should be held to a higher standard....

I'd be satisfied if they were held to the same standard as the rest of us instead of this farce...   

[Oldfisti]

Well, apparently this happens in my own backyard!   




Widow sues bars in DWI case
Legal action upsets family of teen also killed in June crash

By LEIGH HORNBECK, Staff writer
First published in print: Friday, December 19, 2008

BALLSTON SPA -- The widow of a Greenfield man who police say caused a fatal crash in June because he was drunk has sued the bars where he was drinking that night.

   
Both Michael Arpey, 44, and Ed Loomis, 17, died when Arpey's truck collided with Loomis' car on Route 9N.

Police said Loomis was not at fault, but Arpey was driving drunk and speeding when he crossed the center line and hit Loomis head-on.

Arpey's wife, Melissa Arpey, named the bars It's Confidential and Saratoga City Tavern, both on Caroline Street in Saratoga Springs. According to court papers filed in the Saratoga County Court, the bartenders served Arpey too many drinks the night of June 4 and he died in a car crash as a result.

Melissa Arpey and her 1-year-old son, Myles, are named as plaintiffs who lost "financial support and parental services" as a result of Michael Arpey's death.

The lawsuit doesn't mention Loomis, a city football player who worked at the Spa City Diner to help his mother, a single parent. Loomis was on his way home from a friend's house the night he died; the force of the crash threw him from his 1990 Pontiac sedan even thought he was wearing a seatbelt.

The Loomis family attorney, Oscar Schreiber, said he plans to file a similar lawsuit Monday, also naming It's Confidential and Saratoga City Tavern. Schreiber said the suit would name Arpey's estate as well, but Melissa Arpey has yet to create an estate in her husband's name an insult to the Loomis family, who might be eligible for some money from the estate, Schreiber said.

"As a lawyer, I can see what they're doing," Schreiber said of Melissa Arpey's lawsuit. "But as a human being it doesn't sit well with me."

Arpey's lawyer, Matthew McNamara, offered no comment on the claim, but Schreiber said he has spoken to a witness who was drinking with Arpey at It's Confidential at 3 p.m. the afternoon of the crash. Arpey allegedly left the bar, went to Saratoga City Tavern and came back to It's Confidential before leaving for good at 9:35 p.m., nine minutes before the crash.

"The witness said (Arpey) was very, very intoxicated," Schreiber said.

The owners of the bars could not be reached for comment. The companies that own both bars hold state liquor licenses. The tavern is owned by Fitch Bros., Ltd.

In 2005, previous owner Longshot Enterprises was fined $2,000 by the state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control for violating the terms of its license by operating more bars in the four-story bar than allowed by the liquor license.

Peter Gerstenzang, a DWI defense attorney said the "dram shop law," which allows innocent third parties to sue bars, is hundreds of years old. But even when all the elements are in place for a legal case involving a bar allegedly over serving someone, the facts are hard to prove.

"You have to prove the bartender made an illegal sale, when the customer was visibly intoxicated," Gerstenzang said.

[Grampa]

I want my cut

dp goes emo

[Drunken Monkey]

Well, apparently this happens in my own backyard!   

I used to bar tend in VT and I had to read up on the dram shop law. Basically the law states you can't serve someone who's drunk and if you do, you can be held liable.

It's pretty damn clear, and the owner of the bar made damn sure I knew the law.

So I'd say this particular case has merit. <shrug>