Of Ants and Case Stealers

So we have a front gate at our house, in a neighborhood where crime is very low. But we've come to really like the psychological safety it provides, as well as giving us the ease of letting the dogs run out front, except for the weird rescue dog, who is a world class escape artist. I learned after a few months living here that gates break often -- something mechanical that works multiple times each day is prone to that, especially when the electronics and machinery are outside in our tropical climate. Every year or so, something would break, and finally 5 years ago the entire motors system and electronic board needed replacing. At that time, the tech told me the fewer gadgets on the system, the better, so we did away with the sensor that detects cars leaving the property -- so now we either have to let guests out, or visiting service folks who know the code have to let themselves out. And things seemed to work better, but for the damn ANTS. The critters find a way in to the plastic, waterproof box, and every year or so, short out the works. The tech comes, cleans it out, and resets the system. I don't mind too much -- the cost is around $100, and he always regales me with tales of strange animals he finds in other gate boxes. Well, it happened again -- and I await the latest de-anting again. This time we'll place mothballs INSIDE the box, and maybe buy me a whole year of smooth gate sailing...Such is the joy of homeownership in the jungle... This will just add fuel to Wifey's ever increasing desire to move -- to a simpler townhouse or condo in the Grove, where associations take care of stuff like this. D1's friend Alyssa and her new husband Freddie just bought a nice place in the Grove, right behind an office I used to work in, on SW 27th Avenue, and Wifey said she was "jealous." In response to her unrequited desires, I always quote Browning: "If our reach does not exceed our grasp...then what are the heavens for?" She rolls her eyes... Moving onto a larger version of vermin, the case stealer, today's Herald obituary brought back memories of an angry chapter of my firm's history. We were a few months old, and a former client referred a woman, whose name I still remember 21 years later, Cheryl, and Cheryl had a case right in our wheelhouse. She lived at a condo in what is now called Edgewater, and was walking at night next to the pool, when she tripped over some metal spikes that were left uncovered during a remodeling project. In other words, what we call strong liability. And, she completely tore up her knee, requiring a total replacement. I met with Cheryl, and immediately learned that condo had big insurance. Cheryl had no health coverage, and I arranged for her, in record time, to have a good ortho do the surgery on a "letter of protection" basis. This wasn't so unusual, but what was was my next move: I personally spoke with the hospital administrator, and arranged for them to wait on their charges, too. Cheryl went ahead and had the surgery, and the cost was about $75,000 in total. We immediately filed suit, and started pushing her case as rapidly as possible. Cheryl asked us for a loan, and I put her in touch with one of the companies that fund PI cases. All was going great -- I was personally proud of the Cadillac treatment I provided her. And then I got the letter... It was from a lawyer I'll call Stewart, since that was his name. The letter said we were fired, and he was taking over. I called him. He lied like a rug: "Well, David, the client just wasn't happy with the job you were doing." This was impossible -- there was nothing ethically more that could have been done. And there was the rub: I later learned Steward had met her, somehow, probably through a runner he must have had with one of her therapists, and offered her cash money to fire us and hire him. I was livid. I knew we'd lose a nice fee -- probably about $100K -- but more so the client I had handled so well was stolen by a true low life. The case, which we would have settled or tried within a year, dragged on for nearly three. The settlement was mediocre. We received out "quantum meruit," fee paid based on hours I put in. I seem to recall it was about $8K. I wished horrible things on Stewart. I wish I could easily forgive trespasses like this, but I can't. I share an odious character with my old boss and mentor Ed, who used to say "I only hold a grudge against a lawyer who screws me for a thousand years or so." Well, today's Herald reported that Stewart had died, at 71, of pancreatic cancer. I wasn't happy to read the news, but I didn't grieve, either. May he ascend to lawyer's heaven, and steal all of the celestial cases he desires... In the mean time, I have gate jamming ants to deal with ...