25 February 2006

fools gold

we love it when crooked lawyers finally get theirs. let us hope that these lawsuits lead to the unseating of alexandria's two federal judges - judge f a little jr and judge dee drell because these two both came from the gold law firm. judge drell's son bradley drell is an attorney at the gold firm.

*to view the lawsuit case no. 223J39 "Gene Smart , Priscilla Babin v. Gold, Weems, Bruser, Sues and Rundell" in .pdf form click here.


Charles S. Weems, III, Esq.

Gold law firm sued again
By Jim Leggett
jleggett@thetowntalk.com
(318) 487-6346

One of Alexandria's largest law firms and its partners have been named in a class-action lawsuit alleging breach of contract, overbilling and unjust enrichment.

Gene Smart and Priscilla Babin are the named plaintiffs, but according to the suit, they sued on behalf "of themselves and a class consisting of all persons who retained The Gold Law Firm (Gold, Weems, Bruser, Sues & Rundell) for legal representation and who were represented by (J. Ogden) Middleton for the period of 10 years immediately preceding" the filing of the lawsuit.

In a case decided last year, 9th Judicial District Judge Harry Randow ordered Dr. Tommie Mack Granger to pay $49,999 to the Gold firm plus $7,500 in legal fees and $5,000 in expenses after the doctor had refused to pay the Gold firm its legal bills.
In another case in which Granger sued Middleton, 9th Judicial District Judge Rae Swent dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds its intent was to claim malpractice, which had prescribed, and to expand to a class-action lawsuit.

Now, Baton Rouge attorney Chad Dudley has filed another lawsuit. He has the same two named plaintiffs as he tried to introduce into the Granger lawsuit. He said he decided to separate because the judge ruled the matters for Granger had been covered in the two lawsuits involving him.

The lawsuit contends Smart was married to LaQuita Ann Burnett and they were divorced in November 1995. It said he retained the Gold firm in September 1999 to represent him in child custody and child support issues arising from that divorce. It said the case was assigned to Middleton.

Then, the lawsuit contends, "On June 24, 2002, nearly two and a half years late, the issues concerning increase in child support and modification of visitation rights had not been resolved. From September 1999 to June 2002 (he) was billed approximately $66,368 for the work allegedly performed by the Gold firm."

The lawsuit said Babin retained the Gold firm in February 2001 to obtain a divorce and divide the communal property. She gave the firm a $10,000 retainer, the lawsuit said. Babin terminated the firm a year later because nothing had happened, the lawsuit states. She was billed "approximately $18,964.99."

A Web site, www.ogdenmiddletonvictims.net, has several complainants listed who could be potential members of the class-action lawsuit. Babin is included, but Smart is not. The Web site says the Office of Disciplinary Counsel has not acted on complaints against the Gold firm or Middleton in 1,254 days.

Charles Weems of the Gold firm could not be reached for comment.

Dudley is asking for a jury trial. The case has been assigned to 9th Judicial District Judge George Metoyer.

Originally published February 25, 2006
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Posted by wst... at 08:47

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