Will do. I actually ended up talking to lawyers that have tried a bunch of them and looked through the AAJ med mal list serve about it . Turns out these cases turn into defense verdicts pretty often. The chiropractic insurance carriers have paid ppl to put a bunch of literature out there to muddy the water. This literature claims that most verterbral artery dissection is from preexisting conditions like hypertension and vascular disease and that there is no causation between cervical adjustments and vertebral artery dissection and stroke. I think it's pretty gross because it's pretty damn clear that people get their necks yanked on , the artery is damaged, clotting occurs, and there are ischemic strokes. Also it turns out way more people are into chiropractors than I ever thought. Spoke to someone that asked in voir dire how many people here use chiropractors and like almost all the panel raised their hands. They were like oh fuck. And the judge said on break that he loved his chiropractor lol. They used to settle these cases without putting up much of a fight (because this shit is obvious). Then they turned to the modern strategy of muddying the water with the literature, treating them like true malpractice cases involving shit tons of experts and expenses, and they have some national lawyers that are really good at defending them flying around trying them . Some lawyers have turned to actually trying to prove the real negligence was doing an adjustment when the patient had risk factors like preexisting cervical pain , hypertension, vascular disease etc. Also informed consent issues.
just got a case in where the pre-suit adjuster for progressive reviewed a demand containing a surgical recommendation a 31 year old and decided it didn't warrant the tendering of a 50k policy. just waiting on the all-clear from our bad faith people and then its off to the races.
Was set for round 3 against the same carrier on Wednesday. They settled today for 220 indemnity only while agreeing we are entitled to full fees. Our best day in court was 235.
There was another plaintiff’s lawyer had made some advances to the client post-petition and then tried to claim those as expenses, and brother that was not cool by Her Honor.
PACER moved to multi factor authentication and there's a full on boomer meltdown on our state trial lawyer list serve where ppl even downloaded $50 google authenticator apps that are fake because they couldn't figure it out.
Joke's gonna be on me when I need to use PACER and can't get the multi factor authentication to work .
RJF-GUMP sorry to say this but you're sort of a Dabo doppelganger also, love the lack of hover hands. Get in there bois
They just filed a motion for new trial claiming that it was an abuse of discretion to strike the engineer that lied on the stand...
So I did a deal 5-6 years ago that was a fiasco, but we got through it. Took like 6 months to close. I haven't talked to the client since. Just got served with a trial subpoena and duces tecum to show up for a multi-week trial starting in 10 days -- all relates to the deal mentioned above. Other side served me. I'm looking at the docket now. This litigation started in 2021, and I never any idea. And holy fuck, there are some bangers on file. We got bench warrants, contempt orders, an application for writ of habeas corpus, motions to disqualify counsel, motions to withdraw as counsel (with opposition), every dilatory pleading i know to exist, multiple motions to compel with sanctions, deemed admissions, motions to strike anything and everything, and the only deposition transcripts I've seen (those attached to the MSJs on file, all of which denied) are basically just the deponents pleading the Fifth to every question. This all started when the other side sued my former client on a $50k breach of contract claim that was totally unrelated to the deal i was involved in. My client then countersued for $10M+ and brought in 7 more defendants related to the deal i was involved in. I bet the other side already has a $1M in attorneys fees and is now facing the prospect of a catastrophic counterclaim judgment -- all resulting from a $50k breach of contract suit they initiated. I'm absolutely buried and don't have time for this shit. Annoying to say the least.
settled a case last year that we signed up about a week after her wreck. got an email yesterday from a lawyer who claims she fired them and they retained an interest. they sent her a letter 6 months after she fired them stating they were retaining an interest in the case and were pissed that the insurance company cut us a check without notifying them insane.
I had a lawyer in a recent fee dispute claim that he expended as much time over the last 10 months fighting for the fee as I spent in 3 years of litigating a complex medical malpractice case that settled during jury selection. Not kidding.
we do it in house. not going to pretend to know how they do it but i think they do a lot of it via chartswap. not sure if they're nationwide or just in texas
So client asked me to help his family member who runs a large nonprofit corp (501(c)(3) - education/religious purpose charity) and owns two for-profit corporations. I can't come to any conclusion but that the nonprofit is a literal cult that funnels free manual labor (students of the nonprofit) and their "membership fees" and "donations" to the private corporations under (undocumented) "loans." The request is the classic "just take a look our paperwork and confirm everything is good." I think I'm going to pass on this one.
in house. We tried outsourcing with different companies . I thought the communication with them was a PITA and they were slow compared to actual staff doing it
why wouldn't you want to sign your name to an obvious case of fraud so when it all comes crashing down you get pulled down with it?
Another ridiculous/sad/WTF client request: Client is a family friend. He's a CPA and his wife an executive with a pretty large company. You'd think they are pretty sophisticated, right? Well wife calls me this morning in tears, saying her husband was being arrested on a federal bench warrant. I asked for details. She tells me she thinks the matter is settled but is still concerned that word could get out and affect him professionally. She also wanted to know who she should call to get evidence of the settlement. I asked "what do you mean, settlement?" She says a U.S. Marshall called last night saying he was on his way to arrest husband to a serve a 7-year criminal contempt order for failure to comply with subpoena, but that the U.S. would settle the matter for $200,000 in bitcoin. She said husband went to an ATM that converts cash to bitcoin and transferred it. The news I had break to her was not easy. She calls me back a few hours later to tell me that she and her husband have been researching Bitcoin and apparently "all Bitcoin transactions are recorded on a thing called the Blockchain." She then asked me to "subpoena Bitcoin for a copy of the Blockchain" so that we go after the crooks. I mean WTF. I always wonder who the people are falling for this type of shit, but never expected it to be sophisticated professionals.
Those warrant scams are really effective. I stayed on the phone with one for a while just to see what'd they say. I might have fallen for it if I didn't practice criminal defense. They need to do something about those bitcoin ATM's because scams are probably all they're used for.
I had a client call me from a check cashing place today asking why they wouldn’t cash his $65k check.
Slip and fall at AMPM gas station, ridiculous ankle fractures. $350k in medicals. Sent preservation letter 2 days after DOL. Been litigating for 6 months, was basically proceeding with a big time spoliation claim. Thought I had em They produced the footage today at 4:55 PM. Wet floor signs everywhere, store looks immaculate, client slips on his way returning from the ATM. Fuck me Maybe I can get subro waived and get like $50k
Why were there wet floor signs if the store looked awesome we got paid once when a store always had a wet floor sign out. Argument was if you always had the sign out then it’s worthless
I was hoping the disc responses would show a slapdick operation with sloppy record keeping, etc. It's been anything but. Decent procedure, good incident reports, and the security footage is sorta the nail in the coffin. You can see the attendants mopping and putting the signs up in the hour beforehand. OC is cool, he'll throw me a bone. But client is gonna be upset
A member-managed LLC is owned 50/50 by two people. They're having a spat and one has filed a BS derivative action against the other. An operating agreement says, "The LLC shall indemnify the Member ... for all costs, losses, liabilities and damages paid or accrued by the Member ..., except to the extent prohibited by the laws of the state that governs this Agreement. In addition, the LLC may advance costs of defense of any proceeding to the Member ... if it shall ultimately be determined that the person is not entitled to be indemnified by the LLC." Is the defendant entitled to have his attorney's fees paid by the company during the litigation, even if the plaintiff objects? Or does the defendant have to wait for a decision on the merits before being reimbursed?
The advancement portion covers the costs as they are incurred. The "advance costs of defense" implies to me that the intent was probably to cover third party claims against the LLC that name the members as part of the claim rather than an intra-member dispute, but it's hard to say due to the ellipses Some jurisdictions don't allow indemnity/advancement for intra-member disputes unless expressly addressed by the LLCA (e.g., "arising as a result of any act or omission of an Indemnified Party, or for any breach of contract (including breach of this Agreement) or any breach of duties (including breach of fiduciary duties) whether arising hereunder, at law, in equity or otherwise").
Advancement applies to defense of claims, not costs of bringing a derivative action. I understood your scenario S the other guy brought the action and is seeking advancement. Also, state law typically has specific requirements to qualify for advancement (e.g., deliver a personal pledge to reimburse attorney’s fees advance if he ends not having qualified for advancement. I’d make sure he complied with the requirements of your jurisdiction. also what oranjello said, but it sounds like your operating agreement doesn’t include those carve-outs, and I doubt they apply in your jurisdiction absent a contractual provision applying them
I’m in a kind of a fucked either way situation that is total bullshit. I represent a VC fund, about $100mm fund. We have one LP that didn’t fund his capital call obligation. We’re trying to informally work out a redemption so he’ll go away and stop tying up fund assets on his fishing expedition. He argues he shouldn’t have to pay because he speculates that the GP overcharging the management fee (as though a breach by the GP, if true, excuses an obligation to the Fund). Every other LP is in compliance. Because triggering the default would start a parade of catastrophic events to the defaulting LP, eventually making his investment worthless (and eliminate any value that we could buy out — basically ending any chance of informal resolution), we’ve held off on triggering the default. However, having an LP behind on capital calls gives him a free ride at the expense of other LPs to whom the GP owes fiduciary duties. If we start exercising remedies, as we should, the LP will almost certainly sue, which would be incredibly expensive and totally fuck up the fund’s ability to execute its investment strategy in the late stages of the fund. It would fuck all partners. Do nothing and the LPs are effectively paying for one bad seed to get a free ride and will set the precedent on how LPs should respond to the upcoming final capital call. I think we have no option at this point but to drop the nuclear option and let the cards fall as they may
I just reread your post and noticed the advancement is permissive (“may”), not mandatory (“shall”). You’ll need to look at the agreement as to how management decisions are made. If decisions require member consensus, it being 50-50 (and there’s no special provision for this decision), then the client opposing advancement would just take the position it objects and the LLC has no authority to advance. I know this issue gets litigated a lot. Search for “advance! & indemn! & “limited liability company” and you should get a lot of hits. If you don’t find anything in your jurisdiction, check Delaware, which most states modeled their corp statutes on and typically see as fairly strong precedent absent binding in-state precedent
that had been the plan, but it’s been 5 months and the guy is insisting on a valuation (paid for by the fund) and a premium on his investment. It’s absurd. We offered to buy him out for what he put in and release of remaining capital commitment. A very generous offer. The GP is tired of the bullshit, especially since the guy is sending records requests constantly and spoiling the well with the other investors. I think we’re going to trigger the default tomorrow and start with 18% interest accrual (applied retroactively to when the call was due) and recovery of fees and expenses and unfunded capital, and set off against distributions. If he doesn’t get his act together shortly thereafter, we’ll forfeit out his interest and sue him for the balance of his commitment (and expenses and fees).