Triad lawyer says he wants new job: attorney general

By Mark Binker

GREENSBORO -- Get the phone book and flip it over to the back cover. If you live in the Greensboro area, you're probably staring at the picture of a guy who wants to be North Carolina's attorney general.

Bob Crumley -- yes, the "Better call Bob!" guy from the television ads -- has been laying the campaign groundwork with fellow Republicans and business leaders across the state for the better part of two years now.

And yes, he's serious. Crumley, who lives in Asheboro, has turned the daily operations of his Greensboro-based law firm and two other businesses over to partners and spends three to five days a week crisscrossing the state in support of a campaign in which candidates can't officially file to run until early 2008.

But a trial lawyer, much less one who deals a lot with personal injury law, wants to be the Republican nominee for attorney general?

Crumley smiles when he is asked the question, acknowledging that members of the trial bar and Republicans are not traditional allies.

"The new chairman of the Republican National Committee is a United States senator named Mel Martinez. Do you know what position Mel Martinez held in the state of Florida?" Crumley asks, leaning forward a bit in his chair. "He was president of the Florida trial lawyers association."

Although President Bush has been known to blame trial lawyers for higher health care costs -- as he did on a 2002 trip to High Point -- Crumley said party leaders have grown more accepting.

"The other key thing to remember here is I'm running for the state government trial lawyer's job," Crumley said.

The attorney general is North Carolina's chief law enforcement officer, overseeing the State Bureau of Investigation and handling litigation for most other state agencies.

Democrat Roy Cooper, who holds the post, wrote to supporters this summer saying that he planned to seek another term, waving off what many thought would be a run for governor.

Unseating Cooper will be a tough job for any Republican, said Wendell Sawyer, a Greensboro Republican who just lost a race for district attorney and has run for attorney general.

"They'll need to attract Democratic and (unaffiliated) voters," Sawyer said. "Just getting up and talking the party line isn't going to get you anywhere in the state."

Sawyer said he has considered making a run for attorney general but that a decision will depend on funding. And he said Crumley may be a good candidate to run against Cooper, but that trial lawyer baggage may hurt him in a Republican primary.

Crumley has an answer: Avoid the primary.

"If we can become the consensus candidate and save our money for the general election, that's just smart politics," Crumley said.

That goal is a key reason he started so early. Crumley hopes that he can sock away enough money, endorsements and name recognition by early 2008 to become the presumptive nominee and avoid intramural brawls that sapped money and support from other statewide GOP campaigns, such as Patrick Ballantine's run for governor and the three-way primary for attorney general in 2004.

Already Crumley's campaign Web site lists endorsements from such Republican luminaries as Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler, U.S. Rep. Howard Coble and Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry. Full letters from Coble and Berry say they will urge others to get behind Crumley early.

His campaign finance reports show that Crumley has spent more than $137,000 since he began angling for the job after the 2004 elections. Crumley says he plans to hold 50 fundraisers -- 45 of which are scheduled -- in the first six months of next year.

Crumley should have one other advantage over potential rivals: all those phone book covers and television commercials.

"I'm a public figure anyway," Crumley said. "I've been asked for autographs in Wal-Mart."

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mbinker@news-record.com

McCracken wins $97,000 for footy injury

Former rugby league star Jarrod McCracken has won $90,000 damages for a spear tackle that ended his career as a footballer but opened the door to another career which has earned him millions.

The former Wests Tigers player successfully sued the Melbourne Storm rugby league team and its ex-players Stephen Kearney and Marcus Bai over the May 2000 tackle that left him with neck and spinal injuries.

The 36-year-old had sought compensation for, among other things, future lost earnings.

However, Justice Robert Hulme found that while the injuries McCracken suffered in the tackle ended his football career, they had given him more time to invest in property development.

Justice Hulme said McCracken had assets totalling $30 million and had made a profit of $18 million from property since being injured.

McCracken, also a former New Zealand captain, was nine years into his career when he was tackled by Kearney and Bai during a game in Victoria on May 12, 2000.

"I found that the actions of (Kearney and Bai) at the time of the tackle were intentional and intended to injure the plaintiff, albeit not as seriously as in fact occurred," Justice Hulme said in his judgment.

"The plaintiff landed on his head, he heard a loud crack, his neck went into spasm and became numb and he had pins and needles and numbness down his right arm."

Justice Hulme said McCracken continued to suffer neck pain from the injuries.

"The injuries inflicted on the plaintiff ... are permanent," he said.

"They occurred to someone who obviously rejoiced in, and had put a great deal of effort into, his health and fitness.

McCracken had played 163 first grade games in the ARL or NRL and 22 Test matches for New Zealand.

Justice Hulme said McCracken had been planning to travel to England to play football before the tackle.

"They (the injuries) also prevented him from continuing in a career for which he had a passion and which must have involved substantial satisfaction and reward in addition to that of a monetary nature," he said.

Justice Hulme said there was no indication his career would have lasted beyond 2004, regardless of the injury.

Declining to award any compensation for alleged future earnings loss, Justice Hulme said McCracken's injuries had given him a chance to focus on property development.

"In principle of course, the cessation of obligations to play and train for football freed up the plaintiff to engage in other remunerative employment," he said.

"The plaintiff's earning capacity in the field of land dealing and development has been productive of more financial gain than the loss due to the diminution in his football earning capacity."

Justice Hulme awarded McCracken $90,000 in general damages, $1,000 for out of pocket expenses and $6,500 in interest.

But he deferred any payment to McCracken for a "short period" so that lawyers for both sides could look over the judgment and re-list the matter if necessary.

Fnding a personal injury lawyer

There might come up a clip in your life when you are injured. When this haps you are often entitled to compensation for your medical expenses. There is a full field of law known as civil wrong law that trades with personal injury lawsuits. This is a rather big field. It defines such as are not going to have got an opportunity if you are not represented by person with good workings cognition conceptions as liability and negligence.

There is some uncomfortable ness over what sometimes looks to be colonies and judgments that are manner out of line with the injury received. These high profile lawsuits have got captured much attention. This is especially true in the country of medical malpractice where inordinate judgments have got forced up the cost of malpractice coverage for physicians. A cost that is passed on to the patients and consequences in increased wellness attention costs. Tort law gives a individual who have been injured a opportunity to have just compensation if the injury is to an extent that it have caused a crisis in his life.

If you happen yourself in this state of affairs there is one difficult and fast regulation as to where to start. Tort law is very complicated and you of it. One of the first regulations is to get a lawyer with experience in the venue where the lawsuit is going to be heard. If your lawsuit is going to be tried in Boston.

The 2nd regulation is to get a lawyer with a good reputation. This meeting is critical. Listen closely to what you are told about the legal facets of your case. If you are not happy with what you hear. Or have got doubts. Remember that this Hub of the Universe personal injury lawyer you just hired is going to do a batch of money.

MALPRACTICE LAWSUIT: Justice delayed, denied

Woman sues lawyer who vanished after settling case

Tonya'n LaBeaux has lost faith in the Nevada justice system.

Her lawyer is charged with forging documents that ended her $1.5 million wrongful death lawsuit against a Washoe County doctor and making off with the measly settlement he negotiated without her permission. So far, the courts have rebuffed her attempts to resurrect the case against the doctor.

Now LaBeaux, a California resident, is going after that attorney, Lawrence Davidson, who is charged with keeping the $187,500 settlement he negotiated.

But there is one snag in her last-resort effort to receive some compensation for her father's 1999 death: Davidson has vanished.

"I'm trying to sue Davidson personally because I have no other choice," LaBeaux, 42, said earlier this month. "Now he's gone."

LaBeaux is one of at least 17 people who say they are victims of Davidson, who was indicted by the federal government last year on charges he negotiated settlements without the knowledge of his clients and then deposited the money into his own bank account.

The government alleges Davidson illegally pocketed a total of $936,300.

Davidson was a no-show Oct. 30 for the first day of his trial. U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt issued a warrant for his arrest.

That does little to appease LaBeaux.

"You know what? I have no faith," she said.

Daniel Albregts, Davidson's attorney, repeatedly has refused to comment on his client.

LaBeaux's ordeal began on July 4, 1999, when her father, Frank Charles Molica, wrecked his off-road motorcycle during an outing near Truckee, Calif. He was airlifted to Washoe Medical Center about 5 p.m. The next morning, his primary physician released the 60-year-old from the hospital. Within seven hours, Molica was dead.

According to a coroner's report, Molica had nine rib fractures as well as lacerations to his lungs. Severe bleeding in his chest triggered a heart attack, LaBeaux said, citing the report.

"I talked to him that morning and said, 'Daddy, what do you mean they're releasing you?' " LaBeaux said.

"We had a strong case. We had a slam-dunk case," LaBeaux said of the $1.5 million lawsuit filed against Dr. Alvaro Devia.

An investigation by the Nevada Board of Medical Examiners concluded in October 2005 that Devia erred in his care of Molica. It fined him $5,000 and ordered him to pay $8,176 to cover the costs of the disciplinary proceedings.

The board's ruling says Devia was "guilty of the failure to use the reasonable care, skill or knowledge ordinarily used under similar circumstances in the treatment" of Molica.

The board concluded that Molica was released "with a worsening condition."

Attempts to reach Devia's attorney for comment were unsuccessful.

LaBeaux first hired California attorney Robert Tessier in 2000. Because he was not licensed to practice law in Nevada, he contacted the personal injury law firm of Benson, Bertoldo and Baker. Davidson, at the time a member of the Las Vegas-based firm, accepted the case.

The District Court in Reno granted Tessier permission to work in concert with Davidson, giving him equal standing in the case.

"I anticipated at the time that I would be the primary attorney involved in the case for purposes of discovery and trial, but that local counsel would also serve to shepherd the case through the Nevada screening panel," Tessier wrote in an affidavit supporting LaBeaux's lawsuit.

The medical malpractice lawsuit against Devia and the Washoe Medical Center was filed in 2002. The medical center was later dropped and added to the list of witnesses after hospital personnel agreed to testify, LaBeaux said.

The case was scheduled to go to trial in August 2005. In the year leading up to her day in court, LaBeaux said, she was more determined than ever to see the case through.

"I'd told him (Davidson), 'I'm not going to settle,' " she said.

In the summer of 2004, Tessier became impatient with the pace of pretrial preparations. He e-mailed Davidson about the scheduling of affidavits and depositions.

In August 2004, Tessier received a notice from Davidson stating that the doctor had claimed bankruptcy and that his attorney filed a notice of stay, meaning Davidson and Tessier could not proceed with their case.

Tessier said he learned months later that Davidson fabricated the documents, forging the signature of the doctor's attorney.

On Sept. 3, 2004, Davidson e-mailed Edward Lemons, a member of the medical malpractice firm that represented Devia.

"I must tell you that my client wishes to have this matter settled by next Friday, Sept. 10, 2004," the e-mail says.

Four days later, Tessier, unaware that Davidson was negotiating a settlement, e-mailed Davidson and asked about a hearing date to lift the stay on the proceedings.

"I think the hearing is in about two weeks. After that I should have all the info," Davidson wrote back.

On Sept. 9, 2004, Davidson e-mailed Lemons to finalize their negotiations.

"Please allow this letter to confirm we have settled the above-referenced case for $187,500," Davidson wrote.

None of the parties has heard from Davidson since he signed the settlement agreement, but the attorney left a note for his wife in October 2004.

"I have done some very bad things to many people and if I stuck around, not only would I lose my license and probably go to prison, but I would not be able to ensure that" the children are taken care of, Davidson wrote, according to news reports. "The second option is to commit suicide, but frankly I've never been that interested in quitting."

That same month Davidson disappeared, his legal assistant called Tessier. She asked the attorney whether he knew Davidson had settled the case.

Tessier, the primary attorney on the matter, had no clue.

The release letter, typically signed by the client before the settlement is finalized, was signed instead by Davidson.

"She was shocked to find that this case was settled, and advised me that at no time had there been any discussion with Mr. Davidson concerning settlement of her claim," Tessier wrote in his affidavit.

Still, as of October 2004, District Judge Steven Kosach had not signed off on the settlement. Tessier informed the judge that Davidson forged documents and explained Davidson settled the case without LaBeaux's approval. Kosach approved the settlement and suggested LaBeaux sue Davidson.

"That's ridiculous," said Jeffrey Galliher, LaBeaux's Las Vegas-based attorney who filed the lawsuit against Davidson. "How is that an adequate remedy? He could have said this settlement was released through criminal acts, fraud and forgery."

LaBeaux had no better luck at the Supreme Court level.

Devia's attorney, Doug Brown, told the three-judge panel that LaBeaux "chose her attorney" and should go after Davidson, not his client, according to a report in the Reno Gazette-Journal.

A power of attorney document Davidson sent to Devia's counsel with his settlement offers "appeared to authorize Davidson to sign authorizations, checks, drafts and releases on LaBeaux's behalf," the Supreme Court opinion issued July 6, 2006, says.

"We recognize that Davidson's unforeseeable, criminal, and wrongful conduct deprived LaBeaux of her day in court. However, given the narrow facts of this case, we must conclude that Davidson had apparent authority to bind LaBeaux to this settlement."

The three-judge Supreme Court panel included Chief Justice Nancy Becker and justices Michael Douglas and Ron Parraguire.

LaBeaux said she sat through the hearing in disbelief.

LaBeaux has been in regular contact with the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office, preparing to take the stand during Davidson's trial.

LaBeaux said she sensed something went wrong when the tone of the FBI agents fell flat during telephone conversations two weeks ago.

She first learned of Davidson's disappearance after a Review-Journal story published last week.

"I was devastated," she said. "It's hard."

By ADRIENNE PACKER