Rule of Hypocrisy and Laffy-Taffyland
The pleadings filed in the Dave Roberson’s $50 million lawsuit against Balch & Bingham and Drummond Company appear to show a desperate attempt by Balch and Drummond to twist the rule of law into a mound of Laffy-Taffy.
As we mentioned earlier this month, Balch & Bingham appeared to show a complete lack of integrity when they omitted a key phrase of law.
In a nutshell, Dave Roberson was not their client, and both defendants admit it. Thus, the Alabama Legal Services Liability Act does not apply because there was no attorney-client relationship, no contract.
More importantly the six-month statute of limitations of the Act is moot.
Yet in their Laffy-Taffy world, the defendants appear to be worried sick as Roberson’s legal team will be able to engage in a full-throttle and deep investigation through discovery and video depositions.
Now Drummond’s legal team is joining the choir in Laffy-Taffyland, arguing foolishly that Drummond’s General Counsel served as an attorney for Dave Roberson even though Roberson was a subordinate following orders, not seeking legal advice.
The respected and honorable law firm Starnes, Davies, Florie LLP, one of Drummond’s heavy hitters, appears to have shown that the Rule of Hypocrisy may be more important than the Rule of Law.
Roberson’s attorney, Burt Newsome, filed a pleading last week showing the hypocrisy by highlighting a published law review article written by attorneys at Starnes and trumpeted on Starnes’ website that reads:
By its own strict language, the ALSLA does not limit its application to the attorney client relationship. Indeed, its wording appears to cover all claims against an attorney. The Alabama Supreme Court has, however, narrowed the scope of the ALSLA, holding that the ALSLA’s application depends upon the presence of an attorney/client relationship between the plaintiff and the defendant attorney.
With such tremendous consequences (including millions on the table), Balch and Drummond appear to have dropped the ball at the starting gate.
As we noted last week, the behind-the-scenes shenanigans that may have worked in the past are now under intense scrutiny.
Don’t do it…for there will be consequences. And you know exactly what we’re talking about.
