Why are some defense attornies idiots?

wsuffa

wsuffa

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Bill S.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - A lawyer for a pilot who was the only survivor of a 2006 jet crash said Thursday he will withdraw a claim that the 47 passengers on the flight share blame for their deaths.

William E. Johnson, an attorney representing the first officer of Comair Flight 5191, James Polehinke, told the Lexington Herald-Leader that defense attorneys claimed contributory negligence before they knew the facts of the case or had even spoken to their client.

.......
the passengers of the flight should have known the airport was dangerous.

Johnson also had said the passengers should have known the air traffic control tower was understaffed, that airports in Louisville and northern Kentucky are safer and that taking off in the dark is dangerous
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Link to full article

/rant on
OK, I get that they needed to file a response. But this response is beyond incredible. He's defending the pilot - this defense is harmful IMHO to the pilot
/rant off
 
Boilerplate pleading, you often have to plead every defense which you may wish to assert, or you will have waived it. You plead the laundry list, then dismiss those which do not apply after discovery makes clear which those are.

Never reaches the jury, so no prejudice.

Nothing to see here, move along...
 
Spike is right, although there is no way in hell I'd plead that. Someone just wasn't thinking. And Bill you should clarify your post. Its actually INSURANCE Defense Attorneys. Many of who have their nads between two rocks held by the insurance companies who insist that certain pleadings be filed regardless of merit.

They often pull the same and worse tactics as plaintiff's attorneys its just that they have a hell of a lot more money. I have spoken to many a good defense attorney who can't stand the BS but have to comply for risk of loosing a huge chunk of thier business.
 
"Why are some defense attornies idiots?"

Because they come from the general population which is rich with samples.
 
because some people are idiots and it doesn't matter what the hell it is that they do for a living.

You oughta know that. :rolleyes:
 
Completely normal, as you said he has to respond, but he didn't know the details of what he's responding to, so rather than lose the ability to use a pleading, he starts off pleading everything and then weeding through it all as facts come to light. As soon as he saw the particulars (this being an aircarrier accident with Strict Liability most likey) he withdrew this as inapplicable, and I bet there were several more withdrawn pleadings.
 
Not the first time I've disagreed with the rules of civil procedure. It's nuts for folks to have to file every possible action before reasonable facts are in.

Best,

Dave
 
Dave Siciliano said:
Not the first time I've disagreed with the rules of civil procedure. It's nuts for folks to have to file every possible action before reasonable facts are in.

Best,

Dave
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It is wierd. The first time I ran into it was as an insurance adjuster and they handed me the file and I was like, "WTF is All of THIS!!!" and the file manager said, "Oh, don't worry, 3/4 of that will be gone day after tommorrow, don't bother to start reading until you know what you need to read." "Why do I have to read it at all, I thought I was just writing a check?" The file manager nearly fell over laughing at that....
 
Of course, paperwork wars are everywhere in one form or another.

As the XO of a Special Forces A-team part of my first tour in RVN, I was blessed with doing a lot of administration and reporting. Saw myself as a fighter, not a paper pusher, but drearily did what I had to. Amongst the driest reports I had to submit was a twice a week ration and ammo report. Canned deal which showed so many indig rations--PIRs, so many long range patrol rations--LRRPs, so many C-rations and same for ammo. We would send this report in on the radio encoded: line one XXX; line two XXX etc.

One time, we just kept using PIRs and no more were being sent. Number we needed kept dropping and went below a minimum level that was shown on the report. So the reports was line one XXX; below minimum. Line two, etc.
Anyway, we ran out of PIRs and had to start feeding the indigenous personnel LRRPs and Cs which were much more expensive.

I get a call from the B-team CO that he's coming in and wants to make sure I'll be there (not out on patrol). I confirm I will be and when he flies in he gets me aside and wants me to 'xplain these reports I've been sendin.

I 'xplained how I filled them out and sent them in when due and show him my copies. He gets pretty animated, begins yelling and waiving his hands: lieutenant, when the rations began getting low, why didn't you tell someone.
Well Sir, I did...sent it on each report; they were all on time.
But LT, when they were low, why didn't you call the B-team and tell my S-4.
Sir, that's where these reports go, doesn't he read them?

Won't take time to 'xplain what happened after that. It's clear his S-4 wasn't reading what was being sent. All that work for nothin on my part. 'Course, it was all my fault.

Best,

Dave
 
Dave Siciliano said:
Anyway, we ran out of PIRs and had to start feeding the indigenous personnel LRRPs and Cs which were much more expensive.
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At least you weren't feeding them ice cream with balsamic vinegar like you do your "friends". Spike and I still haven't recovered. :D
 
gibbons said:
At least you weren't feeding them ice cream with balsamic vinegar like you do your "friends". Spike and I still haven't recovered. :D
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hey, that's a real treat. I'm actually planning on serving something like that at my dinner party this weekend. Go Dave!
 
I bought some ten year old BV in Italy - just ten years old - do NOT ask the price of a small container - and it was just the 10 yr old stuff. I don't want to know what 100 yr old BV costs.
 
woodstock said:
I bought some ten year old BV in Italy - just ten years old - do NOT ask the price of a small container - and it was just the 10 yr old stuff. I don't want to know what 100 yr old BV costs.
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I bought a small container of 75 year BV on my last trip over. It was less than the cost of a hotel room for the night.... I wouldn't want to repeat at today's exchange rate....
 
Well, to be fair, this LTC and I had a couple other things that didn't go smoothly in my short tenure at A-326 (Tri Cu).

We were located at the junction of a major river and a little smaller one. The Navy had river patrol boats co-located in a contiguous camp. They offered us rides and one day, a fella storm trooper had bought a slalom ski while on R&R and brought it back to the camp. Several of the guys couldn't wait to water ski. I had skied, but never on one board. Next morning, several us us were chatting and I was told it was a piece of cake. No problem, lieutenant, give it a try!

So, I wore my .45 in a shoulder holster, put on some swim trunks and got in the river boat. The guys 'xplained how to do a deep water start and how to try to stay up because if the boat took any enemy fire, they wouldn't be able to come back and get me right away; they'd just firewall the throttles to scadaddle.

Anyway, after a couple problem starts, I got up on one ski and it wasn't so bad! Once the boat got up some speed, I was a bit wobbly, but O.K. Started movin from side to side and jumpin the wake. There I was, skiing on the Vam Co Dong River 30 klicks from Cambodia havin a great time!! Helicopter goes over pretty low and the guys waive at me and I wave back and do a good deep cut for them showin off a bit.

Well, as the boat goes back to camp and docks on the Navy side, a teammate is frantically waiving at me. Lieutenant, the B-Team CO came in on a chopper and is lookin for ya! Was talking about the crazy Navy guys out water skiing and how stupid that was!! We told him you were walking the perimeter and would be right there.

So, I change back into my jungle fatigues right away, but my hair is still soaking wet. I put my beret on (which we never wore around camp) but didn't know what else to do so I didn't stand out. The teammate with me splashes water on my face and front of my jungle fatigues to make it look like I was soakin wet from walking the perimeter. I walk through a deep puddle of water so my boots and such are really muddy and wet.

I walk in the teamroom and report telling the B-team CO I came as soon as I heard he wanted me (which was absolutely true): obviously all grubby. He tells me to clean up a bit and come back while he meets with my boss. As I'm walkin out, I hear the B-team CO tell my boss how he liked seein our guys wear their beret around camp; that way he can tell which guys were his when he flies over; he can tell us apart from those Navy schmucks that were out doing silly stuff like water skiing!!

Best,

Dave
 
what does that have to do with balsamic vinegar?

hahahah kidding. great story! what happened afterwards?
 
woodstock said:
what does that have to do with balsamic vinegar?

hahahah kidding. great story! what happened afterwards?
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I think he somehow got the word that might have been me out there skiing. Couldn't prove it, but filed it for future reference when he rated me. Luckily, he left before my officer efficiency report was due and his successor rated me.

Best,

Dave
 
I loooooove a good balsamic vinegar - we eat tomato/mozzarella salads with balsamic vinegar all summer long.... droool... stuff's good enough to eat with a spoon! :D

How do you do it when you put it on ice cream??
 
Well Tom, at one I-talian restaurant here in Dallas; they insist they know justa the deserta you will love, even when you tell them that's now what you want. When they put it on the table, it's I-talian icecream with Balsamic poured over the top!!
If you don't eat it they charge you for it anyway.
And, if a special guest is paying for the lunch because he insists; he's such a nice fella, he pays for it without flinchin; then, constantly needles the host 'bout it <vbg>

Best,

Dave
 
wsuffa said:
I bought a small container of 75 year BV on my last trip over. It was less than the cost of a hotel room for the night.... I wouldn't want to repeat at today's exchange rate....
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I've got a bottle of 100 in my cabinet back in Ohio.

Needless to say, I think a hotel in Firenze would have been cheaper, but boy oh boy... it's magical.

Cheers,

-Andrew
 
Dave Siciliano said:
Well, to be fair, this LTC and I had a couple other things that didn't go smoothly in my short tenure at A-326 (Tri Cu)....that way he can tell which guys were his when he flies over; he can tell us apart from those Navy schmucks that were out doing silly stuff like water skiing!!

Best,

Dave
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Oh, I've seen your home video of that, waterskiing in Nam. I really liked the choice of "Satisfaction" for the audio track. You must have really gotten tanned, though, 'cause you look pretty dark in the video. ;)
 
Well, you lost me. Don't have any idea what you're talkin 'bout, but here's the crew from my second A-team. Can you pick me out? I'll have to scan in some of the earlier pics I have; they're gettin pretty faded.



Best,

Dave
 

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Sorry Adam! Can't recall how I got it so diverted; guess it was the filing of paperwork that doesn't make sense.

Wound up going back and looking at maps of the area I then served in and a pretty emotional write up by a young guy at he camp with me at the time.

http://www.thespecialforce.com/Articles/FirstHand/TraCu_69.htm

It's better to recall the funny parts.

Best,

Dave
 
Dave - I'll guess. The guy in the beret?

My wife screamed when I said "photos fading" ... she's a scrap booker. She said "You tell him to get those pictures out of the old albums and onto acid free paper ASAP!"
 
Uh, yes ma'am, I promise (fingers crossed behind my back). I will try to scan them in right away. Don't know where I'd get them put on acid free paper.

Bottom row; guy with the mustache. (Had to have it over there, 'cause my [FONT=&quot]fiancée[/FONT] wouldn't let me wear it at home <g>. Mustache lasted longer than [FONT=&quot]fiancée[/FONT] did after I got back.

This pic is actually of the second A-team I was on, wasn't much left of the first one after the described action; they sent me out and brought almost an entirely new crew in as Dave Keefe said in his narrative. Unfortunately, I have my pic with a lot of folks that didn't make it back. That's why it's better to talk 'bout the fun stuff!!

Best,

Dave
 
Dave Siciliano said:
'Course, it was all my fault.
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I always thought that was the role of the XO. He does all the work to keep the unit/squadron going. Then, the CO gets all the credit when we win Battle E's or other efficiency/performance awards.

Of course, if the unit has a less than stellar performance, the word tends to roll down from the CO rather quickly.
 
XO was also the payroll officer. Sometime when Adam isn't so thread title conscious, I'll relate how an XO at one camp used a simple magic plastic printing press he purchased in Hong Kong to impress the kids in the camp to print 500 piaster notes! Impressive stuff that got him investigated by the CID -- they didn't think it was real funny. Also used some other little cheap magic stuff he thought would impress the kids to amaze the Viet special forces guys resulting in one peeing on his leg.

Best,

Dave
 
a Viet special forces guy peed on his leg?? Well, THAT's not the kind of magic trick I believe I'd choose to perform... :(
 
Dave, do you still have the negs? I do photo restoration on the side and would see if I could bring them back to life...

Cheers,

-Andrew
Thread Creep
 
Andrew, I don't think so. Most of these are late 60s and early 70s in an old album; some have come loose from the glue that affixed them. I can scan them one at a time, but really don't know how to edit and do all the adjusting it might take to get them back into shape.

Thanks for your kind offer; would probably have to work from the pics themselves.

Best,

Dave
 
Dave Siciliano said:
Andrew, I don't think so. Most of these are late 60s and early 70s in an old album; some have come loose from the glue that affixed them. I can scan them one at a time, but really don't know how to edit and do all the adjusting it might take to get them back into shape.

Thanks for your kind offer; would probably have to work from the pics themselves.

Best,

Dave
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If they are important to you, I would make contact negs off of them on 4x5 sheet film. I haven't done any in over a decade so I don't know what the best materials/chemicals are right now but I could find out. Sad thing is that with the digital revolution, it's hard to find a good wet lab. I guess good digital scans would be ok, but I have yet to see any good archival digital mediums. Get your prints out of the albums they are in, and go to a good photographic supply shop and buy some albums labeled "Archival Acid Free" and don't use any glue.
You can do several things to them depending on what paper they were printed on to wash them and get the glue off (if you're considering this, while you're at the photo shop, get a bottle of "Photo Flo") and secure the silvers using things like selinium and/or refixing them. (most commercial lab machines do not properly fix and wash prints which is why they degrade over time.)
 
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