I'm Alabama Bound
Sunday, November 25, 2007 at 00:00
By Marcel Strigberger
A jury in Birmingham Alabama recently awarded a family $581 million dollars. No the plaintiffs were not devastated in a car accident. Nor were they attacked by their neighbour's pit bull.
It seems a door to door salesperson sold the plaintiff family two satellite dishes and the defendant Whirlpool Financial National Bank who held the financing contract apparently tried to gouge the family a couple of bucks. Apparently the salesman indicated the contract would run 3 years at $34 per month and it actually ended up running 4 and a half years. The total difference was about $1200. The damages award broke down as $975,000 for mental distress and $580 million for punitive damages.
In the newspaper article there is no mention of pre judgment interest. Or costs. I can only presume with respect to the latter that the award probably beat the plaintiff's offer to settle. Then again the way the American courts work, maybe it did not. Perhaps the plaintiff's offer to settle went something like:
A few things fascinate me about this case. I imagine that if something like this would happen locally counsel would look for a way to get out of paying the extra year and a half and likely succeed or at least negotiate some relief. I simply don't see any reasonable Canadian lawyer saying to his clients: "I see this contract is going to cost you another $1200. Uh Huh! You no doubt have suffered mental anguish which I expect will blow the $275,000 cap set by the Supreme Court of Canada for pain and suffering. Never mind the quadriplegics. Their injuries don't hold a candle to yours."
The Alabama lawyer must have been of the same ilk as Jackie Chiles, that Seinfeld lawyer. He saw dollar signs immediately: "Did you say four and a half years instead of three? Outrageous, fatuous, preposterous! Suzy, get psychiatrist Dr. Jerry Bloom on the phone."
And what kind of evidence indeed did the plaintiffs muster to pull in $975,000 for mental distress? Sigmund Freud himself? Presumably these people must have gone to a shrink at least a couple of times to get treatment. What did these sessions look like? I'd love to be a fly on the wall in the doctor's office on this one:
"So tell me Velma, what is this major abuse you were telling me about on the phone?...Yes go on...And you thought you were all paid up after 3 years and then the nightmare began?...Oh my...And Whirlpool demanded another $34.00 and another...Here's the Kleenex. Give me a couple too, this is more than I can bear..."
And how do you think defense counsel feels about the result? He allowed plaintiff's counsel to convince a jury that that his client was Slobodan Milosovic.
Can you just imagine defense counsel's reporting letter to his client:
Here's a likely juror profile:
Finally and most important, I am vicariously sharing the thrill of plaintiff's counsel cashing his likely 30% contingency fee. A cool one and three quarter million dollars, U.S. He must be whistling Dixie.
A jury in Birmingham Alabama recently awarded a family $581 million dollars. No the plaintiffs were not devastated in a car accident. Nor were they attacked by their neighbour's pit bull.
It seems a door to door salesperson sold the plaintiff family two satellite dishes and the defendant Whirlpool Financial National Bank who held the financing contract apparently tried to gouge the family a couple of bucks. Apparently the salesman indicated the contract would run 3 years at $34 per month and it actually ended up running 4 and a half years. The total difference was about $1200. The damages award broke down as $975,000 for mental distress and $580 million for punitive damages.
In the newspaper article there is no mention of pre judgment interest. Or costs. I can only presume with respect to the latter that the award probably beat the plaintiff's offer to settle. Then again the way the American courts work, maybe it did not. Perhaps the plaintiff's offer to settle went something like:
The poor plaintiffs may have received only party and party costs. Who knows?
The plaintiffs hereby offer to settle all claims as follows:
1. Damages of two billion dollars;2. Costs on a solicitor and his client scale;3. Free satellite dishes for lif
A few things fascinate me about this case. I imagine that if something like this would happen locally counsel would look for a way to get out of paying the extra year and a half and likely succeed or at least negotiate some relief. I simply don't see any reasonable Canadian lawyer saying to his clients: "I see this contract is going to cost you another $1200. Uh Huh! You no doubt have suffered mental anguish which I expect will blow the $275,000 cap set by the Supreme Court of Canada for pain and suffering. Never mind the quadriplegics. Their injuries don't hold a candle to yours."
The Alabama lawyer must have been of the same ilk as Jackie Chiles, that Seinfeld lawyer. He saw dollar signs immediately: "Did you say four and a half years instead of three? Outrageous, fatuous, preposterous! Suzy, get psychiatrist Dr. Jerry Bloom on the phone."
And what kind of evidence indeed did the plaintiffs muster to pull in $975,000 for mental distress? Sigmund Freud himself? Presumably these people must have gone to a shrink at least a couple of times to get treatment. What did these sessions look like? I'd love to be a fly on the wall in the doctor's office on this one:
"So tell me Velma, what is this major abuse you were telling me about on the phone?...Yes go on...And you thought you were all paid up after 3 years and then the nightmare began?...Oh my...And Whirlpool demanded another $34.00 and another...Here's the Kleenex. Give me a couple too, this is more than I can bear..."
And how do you think defense counsel feels about the result? He allowed plaintiff's counsel to convince a jury that that his client was Slobodan Milosovic.
Can you just imagine defense counsel's reporting letter to his client:
And what about the jury? They awarded $580 million for punitives. Who were they? Were their backgrounds carefully studied?
Dear Mr. Whirlpool,
Initially we assessed this claim at the Small Claims Court level. A tad over $1100 plus interest and costs. I did suggest yo'all had a safe case. Unfortunately something went wrong. Very wrong. Even worse than General Sherman frying Atlanta to the ground. Sir, juries can be erratic. As for me, I am retiring from the practice of law to live on my uncle Zeke's farm.
Here's a likely juror profile:
And so on. Plaintiff's counsel must have done his homework.
Juror number one: His father abused him and his siblings and their mom by forcing them to watch 150 satellite fed television shows per day.
Juror number two: Always wanted to be a satellite dish salesperson but did not qualify for entrance exams to I.S.D.S., the Institute of Satellite Dish Salespersons. Became resentful.
Juror number three: Frequently banked at Whirlpool Financial National Bank and hated waiting in line. Vowed to get even one day.
Finally and most important, I am vicariously sharing the thrill of plaintiff's counsel cashing his likely 30% contingency fee. A cool one and three quarter million dollars, U.S. He must be whistling Dixie.
______________
© 2007 Marcel Strigberger. This article CANNOT be copied or reproduced in any way without the expressed written consent of the Author.
Add a comment