How Bogus, BS Lawsuits foster Disdain for Lawyers and the Law, Part II

Was it, and is it, "ethical" for lawyers to team up with plaintiffs to sue small business owners, Counties, Cities, and others, en masse, making fortunes for themselves and their plaintiffs---under the guise of providing greater access for disabled individuals?  I say the answer is NO!

The Americans with Disabilities Act, Discrimination, The Unruh Civil Rights Act, The Unfair Business Practices Act, and Accessibility to Public Places.


In 2002 I had just opened my third and fourth businesses, respectively, when I was hit with my first lawsuit as a small business owner. I was leveraged and I was vulnerable so the timing of the lawsuit, at that point in my life, could not have been worse.  The suit itself was ridiculous--it was bogus.

A disabled person, confined to a wheelchair, a person who lived in the San Francisco Bay area--500 miles away from one of my establishments in the southern California City of La Mesa-- "suddenly" felt the need to come down  and have a beer at my place.  At least that's what he claimed, anyway.

But the truth of the matter was his complaint was bogus, the basis was bogus, and it was part of a scheme to make money under the guise of expanding "access" for persons with disabilities.

This was a serial litigant that had an attorney filing cases on his behalf and they were all making money at the expense of small businesses statewide.

Now, nobody would ever argue with expanding access to public accommodations for folks with disabilities.  The problem was--I was never given a chance to fix the problem before I was sued and hit with demand letter. .    Nope.  Like that pop-song by Drake --it went 0 to 100 real quick.

Conveniently, if I agreed to play along, the suit would be dropped, the lawyer for the plaintiff would be paid, the plaintiff would be paid, and everyone would be happy....eventually I had to hire my own attorney, threaten to sue my own insurance company (Lloyds of London) to compel them to kick in

How Bogus, BS Lawsuits foster Disdain for Lawyers and the Law, Part I

Bogus lawsuits fueled by greed lead to negative perceptions of lawyers

The County has recently been hit with a B.S., BOGUS Lawsuit.  It is infuriating on several levels, and it gave me a moment of Deja-Vu as I read the complaint.  I've seen these before.  More on that in Part II.

These sorts of complaints, these baseless, bogus suits happen frequently and they create a negative perception of lawyers and the law.  I have personal experience with these as a small business owner, a school board member, and now as a county commissioner.  And I have discussed these sorts of things, at length, with my brother (who himself is a lawyer).

Because my brother is a lawyer and now he is a judge, I have had a long running "shtick" that I use on the unsuspecting and the ones that know me--when the subject of lawsuits, lawyers, and the law invariably comes up.  "I HATE all lawyers, except for one."  People that know my brother typically chuckle.  Of course it isn't true, it is a gross exaggeration.  But there is a tinge of truth there, no question about it....

My new "shtick" I use since my brother became a judge goes like this....  Someone says something, in passing, akin to---"Hey Jeff, I saw your brother the other day..."--which is not an infrequent comment I hear---to which I quickly reply with one of the following three variations "I hope the sentence he handed you was fair" or "I apologize for his horrible conduct" or "I hope you ended up on the right side of the verdict." [Insert sound of a rimshot]

It's all in good fun-----until it's not.

You see--when you are served papers--when you are sued personally or in your capacity as a business owner, when the allegations are bogus--It becomes serious very quickly. Most folks may never