Overlawyered: Chronicling The High Cost Of Our Legal System

Posts Tagged ‘animals’

Hit by bird at garden center

In far-famed Madison County, Ill., 40-year-old Rhonda Nichols is suing the Lowe’s Home Center in Alton, saying she was seriously injured when a bird flew into her head at the outside gardening area. She wants more than $50,000:

According to the suit, filed by the St. Louis firm of Anderson & Associates, the store “allowed wild birds to enter the Gardening area in which customers travel … (and) that said wild birds created a dangerous condition.”

Nichols claims the bird caused injuries to her head, brain, neck, muscles, bones, nerves, discs, ligaments, as well leading to the loss of neurological functions and cognitive skills.

…The suit said the incident occurred “on or about April 15, 2003.” Bobbi Rose, an assistant manager at Lowe’s, said the store had no record of any human-bird collisions on that date.

(Paul Hampel, “Woman sues store, claims she was attacked by bird”, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Apr. 13). Update Feb. 12: federal judge throws out suit.

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Chimpanzee attack victim St. James Davis (update)

(For background and more detail, see previous entry, Mar. 8). Davis has had surgery to reattach his nose and lips, a tracheotomy, and more facial surgery Monday, while he fights off a lung infection. The Davises’ attorney, Gloria Allred, says “the family had not ruled out legal action against the sanctuary’s owners.” Mrs. Davis also implied that there would be further negotiation or litigation to have their pet chimpanzee, Moe (not involved in this attack, though he’s bitten others) returned to live with them in their California suburb. (Claudia Zequeira, “Chimp Attack Survivor Struggles With Recovery”, LA Times, Mar. 16; AP, Mar. 15).

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Priceless pets, cont’d

Boston: “The family of Cassius, the dog killed by leaking electricity from an old NStar Electric lamppost site, said last night it had turned down $200,000 in ‘comfort money’ from NStar and is demanding $740,000 from the utility or it will sue. The family said it picked the dollar figure because it equals NStar chief executive Thomas J. May’s annual salary.” It’s so hard to be an ordinary family grieving for a lost pet — much fairer if we were an affluent family grieving for a lost pet (Peter J. Howe, “Dog’s family demands $740,000”, Boston Globe, Mar. 8). For earlier stories on pets’ sentimental value and the dollar figures attached thereto, see Jul. 30, Nov. 21 and Dec. 10, 2003, etc.

More: Robert Ambrogi (LawSites) thinks I should have included more details from the Globe story that tend to cast the DeVito family’s suit in a more sympathetic light, such as that (his words): “The family would donate most of the $750,000 to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Animal Rescue League.” My response:

I wonder how you reach the conclusion that the family “would donate most of the $750,000” ($740,000 per the Globe) to animal charities. At the press conference, according to the Globe, attorney John G. Swomley — who was at pains to portray the suit as not a money grab — said the family plans on “keeping $200,000, plus enough to pay for four years of college for Kyle and his brother Alec, 10”. At, say, Boston College (currently $37,413 room and board, and who knows how high the figure’ll be by the time the boys are grown?) that amounts to roughly another $300,000 ($37K x four years x 2 boys), leaving $240,000 of the settlement. And assuming Swomley takes, say, 30% of the $740,000 = $220,000 for his fee, that would leave a grand total of $20,000 to go to the animal charities — assuming there aren’t expenses and that sort of thing to be charged against the remainder.

You’re probably right that I should have expanded my three-sentence summary of the case at Overlawyered to delve further into these matters, since they afford valuable insight into how lawyers can manage the p.r. aspects of their cases.

Further: his response. (& letter to the editor, Mar. 15).

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Chimpanzee victim St. James Davis v. West Covina

Former NASCAR driver St. James Davis is in critical condition after losing a nose, a cheek, an eye, his lips, a foot, all of his fingers, his testicles, and part of his buttocks to a disturbingly gruesome chimpanzee attack at a wildlife sanctuary Thursday; his wife, LaDonna, also lost a thumb before the escaped chimps were shot by the sanctuary owners.

The Davises were visiting a different chimpanzee, their former pet, Moe. They had previously settled a civil rights lawsuit against West Covina for $100,000 as part of the fallout stemming from the city criminally charging the couple for keeping a dangerous animal. His lawyer, Gloria Allred, accused the city of overreacting when Moe bit a policeman and a woman in separate incidents, and succeeded in creating enough of a press-storm that the city backed down after having poured a quarter million dollars into Moe-related legal fees. (The policeman required $250,000 in medical treatment.) Davis won a previous lawsuit against West Covina in the 1960s allowing him to keep his chimpanzee in town because a judge held the chimp “doesn’t have the traits of a wild animal and was somewhat better behaved than some people.” But never fear, Ms. Allred is on this case also, and has been cited by the press as demanding “immediate answers”; the couple hasn’t decided whether they’ll sue. (David Pierson and Mitchell Landsberg, “A Primate Party Gone Horribly Awry”, Los Angeles Times, Mar. 5; Christina L. Esparza, “Saga of Moe takes a bizarre twist”, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Mar. 3; Christina L. Esparza, Ruby Gonzales, and Karen Rubin, “Moe’s owners mauled”, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Mar. 4; AP, Mar. 5; “Woman Has Faith in Chimps Despite Attack”, Good Morning America, Mar. 7; “Officials try to find what caused chimp attack”, KGET-17, Mar. 7; Cara Mia DiMassa, “2 Cities Can’t Get the Hang of Chimp’s Situation”, Los Angeles Times, May 10, 2002; Linda Deutsch, AP, Oct. 15, 1999; AFP, Feb. 4, 2000 (kibo commentary); Richard Winton, “Los Angeles to remain Moe-less”, Los Angeles Times, Jul. 21, 2001; Jeff Jardine, “Chimp charm is film illusion”, Modesto Bee, Mar. 6). Once upon a time, Moe was considered a leading candidate for the principle that animals should have court standing. (Amanda Onion, “Lawyers: Animals Should Be Able to Sue”, ABC News, May 13, 2002).

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Canada: “Stripper paid after tiger attack”

“A stripper mauled by a tiger in an Ontario safari park has won $650,000 in damages because her scars meant she could no longer work, Canadian media said on Friday.” Jennifer-Anne Cowles was awarded “some $650,000 in damages, almost half of it to compensate for income she would have made as a stripper. Her musician boyfriend, David Balac, won Canadian $1.7 million ($1.37 million), because his injuries left him unable to work as an accordion player.” (Reuters/CNN, Jan. 31). James Taranto at WSJ “Best of the Web” comments (Jan. 31): “Canada has some surprising priorities if an accordion player is worth twice as much as a stripper.” (& letter to the editor Feb. 13).

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Arizona wildlife: when in doubt, take it out

Arizona court decisions have recently eroded the state’s historical immunity from being sued over the actions of wild animals, and wildlife managers have been hit with two big liability payouts: a $2.5 million settlement for a girl mauled by a bear, and a $3 million jury verdict payable to a motorist whose vehicle struck an elk. Tucson attorney Mick Rusing, who defended the state in the bear case, says the cases influenced a recent decision to order mountain lions hunted in Sabino Canyon. “The default position of Game and Fish is now, ‘When in doubt, take it out,’ ” Rusing said. “If the courts and the Legislature are not going to protect these agencies and the people who make the decisions, that’s the way it’s going to be.” Rusing drafted a bill that would have provided immunity to game managers but the bill died “after trial lawyers opposed it and the Game and Fish Commission declined to support it.” (Tom Beal, “Bear, elk lawsuits influence lion hunt”, Arizona Daily Star (Tucson), Mar. 13)

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Pet-sitter sued for $160,000

At first it seemed like a feel-good story: dog is lost and found two months later, though one doubts that the “white witch” and “four psychics” the owner hired were of great help. But a day later the Portland dog owner sued the pet-sitter who lost the dog for $160,000. The lawsuit asks for, among other things, $10,000 for “the temporary loss of the special value of Fremont based on his qualities, characteristics and pedigree.” (Joseph Rose, “Owner sues pet sitter in loss of dog”, Oregonian, Dec. 6). A follow-up story indicates community outrage. (“Street beat”, Oregonian, Dec. 9).

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Dog gets off leash, punitive damages for pet store

William Dyer at BeldarBlog has some comments (Nov. 16) about a case in which an Austin, Tex. judge awarded $47,000 in damages, including both emotional and punitive damages, against Petco over the death of a dog that got away from a Petco employee while being walked after a grooming, later ran into traffic and was killed. (“Judge awards $47,000 in runaway pet case”, AP/Houston Chronicle, Nov. 16; Claire Osborn, “High price put on dog’s life”, Austin American-Statesman, Nov. 16). For more on damage claims over the emotional worth of pets, see Jul. 30 and links from there.

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