Terrel L. Shields
Elite Member
- Joined
- May 2, 2002
- Professional Status
- Certified General Appraiser
- State
- Arkansas
It was too good to be true. Last day, appealed to federal appeals court. So the beat goes on...and on...and on......
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I hope tis the beginning of the end
- Thread starter Terrel L. Shields
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more?Walter Kirk
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2003
- Professional Status
- Licensed Appraiser
- State
- New Jersey
Have you decided to sue the plaintiffs for your time and expenses?, I sure would.
Terrel L. Shields
Elite Member
- Joined
- May 2, 2002
- Professional Status
- Certified General Appraiser
- State
- Arkansas
Gee, would I love to, but my lawyer said that any such action generally is viewed by the courts as harassment [the court still assumes the complain COULD be valid]. These lawyers would file a complaint to the courts and my lawyer would be sanctioned as well. This could result in me being saddled with court costs for any delay caused to consider the suit and my lawyer barred from practicing before the federal court.
The only other alternative I could think of is probably not legal, either, but would probably been the way it would have been handled about 40 years ago.
Reality is that we have to take almost no action unless the appeals court requests comments. They may simply refuse to hear the appeal. I cannot imagine why they would let it go on.
Terrel L. Shields
Elite Member
- Joined
- May 2, 2002
- Professional Status
- Certified General Appraiser
- State
- Arkansas
If I understood my lawyer correctly, no. You can petition the judge to award you legal fees, but they generally will not allow it unless the evidence has been overwhelming that the basis for the suit was frivolous. Since the initial dismissal is the result of an argument over tolling (when does the statutes of limitations clock begin ticking) there is no frivolous matters....if it does get tossed back, and goes to trial, I may be able to make that case against the two plaintiffs whose farm I did NOT even sit foot on let alone appraise. I.e.- they knew I did not have any part in their appraisal and they have no right to sue me.
Walter Kirk
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2003
- Professional Status
- Licensed Appraiser
- State
- New Jersey
If your lawyer doesn't to sue them for your time and money you can do it pro-se, I would.
Boy, what a sordid tale of abuse of the legal system. You certainly have my sympathy.
Do you think these rednecks would be pursuing anti-trust action unless some lawyer told them to do so? I don't. I don't think they could even tell you what anti-trust involves.
If it were me, I'd look to ferreting out an attorney-malpractice lawyer to determine whether a suit could be filed against their attorneys for defamation or professional slander. Sounds to me as though the basic facts of the case should have disclosed to the plaintiff's attorneys that they had little chance of success. The action was filed in hopes of a quick settlement through allegations of interstate wire fraud and RICO. Scare the bank into coughing up some quick change in a settlement, maybe get a little bonus from that rich appraiser. The plaintiffs themselves are looking for someone else to blame for the fact that they aren't even smart enough to shovel chicken s--t competently, and will never be successful at anything but welfare fraud.
I've found that the legal profession is much like the appraisal profession. We've got our number-hitters, they've got their ambulance chasers. They hate their bottom-feeders as much as we hate ours. If this suit is held to have been specious or meritricious, you may be able to take professional action against the plaintiff's attorneys. At the very least, file a complaint against them with your state's Board of Professional Responsibility (BPR). Ask your attorney if anything these attorneys has done seems to be in violation of your state's Code of Professional Responsibility. (This isn't usually a statute; it is the lawyer's USPAP, and the effect of violation is usually similar.) Get copies of the Ethical Canons (the lawyer's version of Standards Rules) which may have been violated (or look them up on the web yourself) and file a BPR complaint. May not go anywhere, but it'll keep those attorneys busy for a while, and make'em look to their own safety.
You may think that it won't do any good, so why bother? But you never know when your complaint may be just what they were looking for to put some problem lawyers out of business. At the very least, you may make'em take an ethics class and pay a fine--and, I might add, run up their malpractice insurance premium. At the high end, if the Board decides that filing the case invoved even a moderate degree of mendacity or incompetence, then the Board sends their findings to the state's Supreme Court to determine whether the lawyers in question should be suspended or disbarred. Beyond filing and documenting the complaint to the BPR, no other action on your part should be required. If it gets to disbarment level, there's a slight possiblity that you might be subpoenaed as a witness before the Supreme Court or the BPR. Be sure to support that complaint with an affidavit.
'Nother note: Lawyers in most states get informed of BPR actions, just as appraisers are notified of Commission actions against other appraisers. By filing a BPR complaint, your name gets exposed to the lawyers as someone who can get them into trouble. In the future, a plaintiff will have to have a <very> solid case against you to be able to get a lawyer to put your name on a complaint.
This suit is entirely the lawyers' fault, and is motivated solely by greed. Go after them. You'll enjoy the results.
Do you think these rednecks would be pursuing anti-trust action unless some lawyer told them to do so? I don't. I don't think they could even tell you what anti-trust involves.
If it were me, I'd look to ferreting out an attorney-malpractice lawyer to determine whether a suit could be filed against their attorneys for defamation or professional slander. Sounds to me as though the basic facts of the case should have disclosed to the plaintiff's attorneys that they had little chance of success. The action was filed in hopes of a quick settlement through allegations of interstate wire fraud and RICO. Scare the bank into coughing up some quick change in a settlement, maybe get a little bonus from that rich appraiser. The plaintiffs themselves are looking for someone else to blame for the fact that they aren't even smart enough to shovel chicken s--t competently, and will never be successful at anything but welfare fraud.
I've found that the legal profession is much like the appraisal profession. We've got our number-hitters, they've got their ambulance chasers. They hate their bottom-feeders as much as we hate ours. If this suit is held to have been specious or meritricious, you may be able to take professional action against the plaintiff's attorneys. At the very least, file a complaint against them with your state's Board of Professional Responsibility (BPR). Ask your attorney if anything these attorneys has done seems to be in violation of your state's Code of Professional Responsibility. (This isn't usually a statute; it is the lawyer's USPAP, and the effect of violation is usually similar.) Get copies of the Ethical Canons (the lawyer's version of Standards Rules) which may have been violated (or look them up on the web yourself) and file a BPR complaint. May not go anywhere, but it'll keep those attorneys busy for a while, and make'em look to their own safety.
You may think that it won't do any good, so why bother? But you never know when your complaint may be just what they were looking for to put some problem lawyers out of business. At the very least, you may make'em take an ethics class and pay a fine--and, I might add, run up their malpractice insurance premium. At the high end, if the Board decides that filing the case invoved even a moderate degree of mendacity or incompetence, then the Board sends their findings to the state's Supreme Court to determine whether the lawyers in question should be suspended or disbarred. Beyond filing and documenting the complaint to the BPR, no other action on your part should be required. If it gets to disbarment level, there's a slight possiblity that you might be subpoenaed as a witness before the Supreme Court or the BPR. Be sure to support that complaint with an affidavit.
'Nother note: Lawyers in most states get informed of BPR actions, just as appraisers are notified of Commission actions against other appraisers. By filing a BPR complaint, your name gets exposed to the lawyers as someone who can get them into trouble. In the future, a plaintiff will have to have a <very> solid case against you to be able to get a lawyer to put your name on a complaint.
This suit is entirely the lawyers' fault, and is motivated solely by greed. Go after them. You'll enjoy the results.
Terrel L. Shields
Elite Member
- Joined
- May 2, 2002
- Professional Status
- Certified General Appraiser
- State
- Arkansas
Wish I thought it would be that easy.
I asked my lawyer why the suit was appealed. She replied, "its probably the only way the lawyers can get paid. They took it on contingency, and if they can argue that it could have went forward, or that we have impeded the future nonexistant trial in anyway, they can still get their expenses out of the court system."
I asked my lawyer why the suit was appealed. She replied, "its probably the only way the lawyers can get paid. They took it on contingency, and if they can argue that it could have went forward, or that we have impeded the future nonexistant trial in anyway, they can still get their expenses out of the court system."
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