[interested_observer]

A couple years ago, I read a story about a Washington wedding photographer that was threatened with a $300,000 lawsuit by an ex-client. The story then seemed to drop out of sight. Sometime thereafter, I decided to put on my investigative reporter mustache and do some sleuthing. Was the threat real? Did a lawsuit actually get filed? If so, what was the result?

• Wedding Photographer Threatened with a $300,000 Lawsuit (Revisited)

[normhead]

Well, glad to see sanity prevailed in the end, but what a routine... I hope the guy gets disbarred. He's a public menace. Anyone unfortunate enough to do business with him is probably in for a rough ride.

[phoenixvision]

• Wedding Photographer Threatened with a $300,000 Lawsuit (Revisited)

Nice post.....Definitely agree with only showing the images you think are the best.....I definitely delete anything, I am not proud of, there's no reason whatsoever to give the clients images that are even simply OK....unless they are the only coverage of a very important moment or person.....Maybe there should be a fourth point in there about shooting lawyers weddings......

[luftfluss]

Oh yes, I remember the original case from a couple years ago. Thanks for posting the follow-up!

[Na Horuk]

Crazy stuff. Wonder what would have happened if the poor wedding photog didn't get the help? Law-people who abuse their knowledge/influence to extort people like that are disgusting

[interested_observer]

... down towards the end, the lawyer filed a complaint with the Bar Association. Hopefully, there will be one less lawyer in business.

[DeadJohn]

A few things in that article remind me that I've made a smart life choice: Avoid doing business with lawyers. As the extortion letter points out they have zero out of pocket costs to sue you. Even if they have a flimsy case, they waste their time but you waste lots of money hiring another lawyer to defend yourself.

+1 that I hope he gets disbarred.

[ttran88]

Thanks for the post, very good read.

[crewl1]

Thanks for posting the follow up, glad it worked out well for the photog and a lesson to all.

[NicoleC]

I know you English is not so good

Irony.

[micromacro]

Irony.

Yep, and the whole letter is just wow! Sounds like the least that poor photographer has slept with the bride. It's hard to believe how dirty that lawyer is.

[severalsnakes]

Poon v. Tang. LMAO!

That being said... I am a legal secretary and I work for a small firm. Lawyers are just people, and some people are jerks. Sometimes, when the jerk is on your side and advocating and arguing for YOU, then you don't mind. It's when they're on the other side, arguing against you, that they're all a-holes...

I transcribe legal correspondence from dictation day in and day out, and that demand letter is extremely unprofessional. "Dude" obviously wrote it himself and didn't send it to his secretary, because there's not a legal secretary I know that would let that bunk out of the office as-is.

I'm glad it worked out the way it did, and I bet Tang has a fabulous and extensive contract these days...

[interested_observer]

In this case the lawyer had an A$$ for a client.

A lawyer is an officer of the court and as such there is suppose to be a certain level of professionalism in their conduct. I think that lawyers even need to take an ethics class in law school. Obviously this guy skipped that class. You can have a Lawyer who is a junk yard dog - that is just fine. Being a Professional A** is slightly different than being just an run of the mill A**H$$$. This piece of work was both. I sincerely hope that he is forced to find another line of work by the Bar Association.

[BrianR]

Good read.

I find it shocking that someone charging $3800 for a wedding didn't have a standard contract.

[tim60]

In this case the lawyer had an A$$ for a client.

A lawyer is an officer of the court and as such there is suppose to be a certain level of professionalism in their conduct. I think that lawyers even need to take an ethics class in law school. Obviously this guy skipped that class. You can have a Lawyer who is a junk yard dog - that is just fine. Being a Professional A** is slightly different than being just an run of the mill A**H$$$. This piece of work was both. I sincerely hope that he is forced to find another line of work by the Bar Association.

I differ with you on the value of ethics classes. Universities in the secular tradition (most western universities) teach classes ABOUT ethics, so students can understand the issues that the community would see as being ethics sensitive and have the ability to adjust their behaviour to be not so sensitive. However, ethical behaviour comes out of character, not knowing about something. Universities in the secular tradition do not try to convert the inner values of the student to be such that the student will behave in a 'good' manner as much of the time as is humanly possible.


Theological colleges do try to build the inner person, in accordance with the beliefs of their religion. Military academies try to build the inner person, but even that is in the constrained space necessary for maintenance of military good order, but they allow their students to maintain their more personal religious beliefs.


So, in summary, Dude may well have studied the ethics course very successfully, and be skilled in debating the issues about ethics - which is what his course was probably designed to do. It is only an unjustified hope that knowing about ethics will rub off in people modifying their behaviour.