What do you all think of my police excessive force case?

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: pyonir
Saw that newest article in the Trib. I always look for quotes from that Parker guy.

We have been just flooded with calls about potential police cases since that article was published. I have been spending hours every day on the phone. I guess that's the cost of success . . .

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

The case continues to get a lot of attention.

I liked this article, published yesterday.

Here is a video of Al and my partner speaking about the case the other day.

 

[Thegonagle]

Just published:

By Curt Brown, Star Tribune

Last update: November 27, 2007 ? 8:50 PM

A federal judge in St. Paul refused the city of Golden Valley's request for a new trial Tuesday and said he wouldn't reduce a jury award of $778,000 in an excessive force case in which police mistook a man as a bank robber and pepper-sprayed him.

...

After an hourlong hearing Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Richard Kyle said he was "satisfied this case was fairly tried" and ruled the damages were "well within permissible limits."

Attorney Jon Iverson, who is representing Golden Valley and Hernandez, said he will meet with Golden Valley officials to evaluate whether they might take the case to the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

Iverson argued that Hixon's lawyers ignored the judge's pretrial ruling by injecting Hixon's racial background into a case that was supposed to be limited to whether excessive force was used.

Kyle said he determined the officers had probable cause to arrest Hixon, but he said it was unreasonable "to somehow block out race entirely."

Hixon is black and 911 transcriptions show officers were told the bank robbery suspect was white. Hixon's lawyer, Andrew Parker, insisted jurors simply believed Hixon's testimony more than they believed the officers.

http://www.startribune.com/west/story/1576055.html

So, the original judge denied a retrial; therefore, their next step may be to take it to a different court? (And in the meantime, Mr. Hixon can forget about receiving the public apology he deserves.)

And does this mean your law firm won't be getting its check for awhile yet?

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

The City of Golden Valley appealed our judgment, but today we settled the case for a total payment of more than $1.1 million. Read more here. I am very pleased. Our total award had been a bit over $1.2M, including attorneys fees (we won a $778,000 judgment and the Court awarded another $459K in fees and costs). It is unfortunate the City continues to deny any wrongdoing, but their payment of well over $1M speaks louder than their words.

 

[rocadelpunk]

dammmns

 

[bdude]

Very nice work.

 

[darkxshade]

Ok, maybe it's in there somewhere and I'm just too stupid to do the math and figure it out but exactly how much does the victim get after you get paid?

 

[jpeyton]

:thumbsup:

Great work!

Way too many stories these days about cops on power-trips, abusing citizen's rights.

Hitting them in the pocketbook is the only way to make them listen, and $1.2 million is a hefty sum.

 

[DBL]

What's your personal take?

 

[bctbct]

good, find us a taser case we can help you out on

 

[hanoverphist]

Originally posted by: Don Vito Corleone
The City of Golden Valley appealed our judgment, but today we settled the case for a total payment of more than $1.1 million. Read more here. I am very pleased. Our total award had been a bit over $1.2M, including attorneys fees (we won a $778,000 judgment and the Court awarded another $459K in fees and costs). It is unfortunate the City continues to deny any wrongdoing, but their payment of well over $1M speaks louder than their words.

so you got the standard 40% of that eh? sweet.

 

[sygyzy]

Congrats!

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: DBL
What's your personal take?

My take is that these police acted totally inappropriately, and neither they nor their department or the City are willing to accept any responsibility for their actions. If I were a taxpayer of Golden Valley I'd be asking, if these cops really did nothing wrong, why am I being asked to shoulder my share of a $1.14M settlement rather than continuing to fight? And if they did do something wrong (which I feel has been amply proven), why aren't they facing any consequences for it?

 

[Aharami]

Originally posted by: hanoverphist

Originally posted by: Don Vito Corleone
The City of Golden Valley appealed our judgment, but today we settled the case for a total payment of more than $1.1 million. Read more here. I am very pleased. Our total award had been a bit over $1.2M, including attorneys fees (we won a $778,000 judgment and the Court awarded another $459K in fees and costs). It is unfortunate the City continues to deny any wrongdoing, but their payment of well over $1M speaks louder than their words.

so you got the standard 40% of that eh? sweet.

i think his firm gets that 40%. not him personally. Im sure he'll see a helfty bonus if he was the primary lawyer in this case

 

[Squisher]

Originally posted by: Don Vito Corleone

Originally posted by: DBL
What's your personal take?

My take is that these police acted totally inappropriately, and neither they nor their department or the City are willing to accept any responsibility for their actions. If I were a taxpayer of Golden Valley I'd be asking, if these cops really did nothing wrong, why am I being asked to shoulder my share of a $1.14M settlement rather than continuing to fight? And if they did do something wrong (which I feel has been amply proven), why aren't they facing any consequences for it?

I don't think they make a thumbsup icon big enough.

 

[austin316]

Originally posted by: Don Vito Corleone

Originally posted by: DBL
What's your personal take?

My take is that these police acted totally inappropriately, and neither they nor their department or the City are willing to accept any responsibility for their actions. If I were a taxpayer of Golden Valley I'd be asking, if these cops really did nothing wrong, why am I being asked to shoulder my share of a $1.14M settlement rather than continuing to fight? And if they did do something wrong (which I feel has been amply proven), why aren't they facing any consequences for it?

I believe he meant how much do you personally get from this.

Unless you knew that and were just being facetious (sp?)

 

[akshatp]

I'd also like to know what your personal windfall was from this verdict.. Just out of curiosity, nothing more.

 

[Skunkwourk]

Originally posted by: akshatp
I'd also like to know what your personal windfall was from this verdict.. Just out of curiosity, nothing more.

Im guessing about 3% of the 1.1? Just a guess.

 

[BudAshes]

The cops in my area recently bought themselves some sweet BMW mortorcycles along with new giant suv's. They also have heat night vision in all their vehicles and get new equipment they barely use all the time(despite their being no crime). So i hope they kick my ass. They have gobs of extra money.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: austin316

I believe he meant how much do you personally get from this.

Unless you knew that and were just being facetious (sp?)

Ah, I see. I'd rather not discuss the firm's fee on the case. I myself am salaried and not guaranteed any particular amount of the settlement. I'm sure it will be reflected in my end-of-year bonus, and I might get a bit sooner, but since we just moved into a new space and spent a gazillion dollars on the new office, that may not happen. We shall see . . .

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

They updated the article - this one is better IMO.

 

[yllus]

The settlement is not an admission that Golden Valley police did anything wrong, [City Attorney Allen Barnard] said.

"The evidence from our perspective was the police officer did everything he was supposed to," he said. "This was an isolated incident and a tragedy for all around, not just Hixon and his family, but the police officer and his family, as well.

Oh, what BS. Imagine that, a person being held responsible for his actions. If there's a tragedy occurring here where the city is involved, it's in not firing the people involved.

 

[everman]

I'm sure the firm was well paid. And for those who argue that they got paid too much: there must be some kind of incentive for smart, legally savvy people to be willing to stand up for the rights of those individuals like the man who was wronged in this case. If it isn't economically feasible or attractive to do that, then the lawyers will move on to what is, leaving only public defenders to do the work.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: everman
I'm sure the firm was well paid. And for those who argue that they got paid too much: there must be some kind of incentive for smart, legally savvy people to be willing to stand up for the rights of those individuals like the man who was wronged in this case. If it isn't economically feasible or attractive to do that, then the lawyers will move on to what is, leaving only public defenders to do the work.

That's the thing. Early in the life of this case, we consulted with another firm that does a lot of plaintiff's civil rights work, and they said they wouldn't have taken the case - they felt we would probably lose, and that if we won, we might get $30K. In the next 2 1/2 years, we spent well over 1,000 hours of attorney time, which we would have billed hourly clients about $450K for, and if we'd lost, it all would have been for naught.

Without disclosing any numbers, we would have settled the case for a lot less than $1.1M if the City had brought meaningful money to the negotiating table, even if it worked out as a net loss for the firm - their total unwillingness to accept any responsibility made that impossible. Even now, when they're paying more than $1,141,000, they continue to deny any wrongdoing. IMO it's an insult to the taxpayers.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Originally posted by: m0mentary

Originally posted by: akshatp
I'd also like to know what your personal windfall was from this verdict.. Just out of curiosity, nothing more.

Im guessing about 3% of the 1.1? Just a guess.

Attorney contingency fees can run up to 30+% of the award. I would bet in this case that the fee was much higher than 3%, though it depends on how much of a fee the attorneys were awarded by the court.

Edit: Congrats on the big win, DVC. Certainly a large feather in your legal cap.