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Lucky Gunner recovers $280,000 in legal fees
Story here.
My favorite line: "The Brady Campaign declined Guns.com's request for comment about paying court costs and the dismissal."
If Brady pays it (they're the attorneys, and the award is assessed against their client, not themselves) that'd be about 10% of their assets, or 5% of their budget. If they don't ... they're gonna have some serious problems finding clients for future cases.
UPDATE: I can't find where the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act provides for attorneys' fees. The operative part of the statute simply says that a "qualified action," lawsuit, shall not be brought and any pending ones shall be dismissed. I wonder if the judge might have awarded the fees as sanctions for bringing an utterly frivolous suit. That's a rare action for a court to take, the suit has to be utterly beyond the pale, and in awarding them the judge could assess them directly against the attorneys.
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Following the links, it appears that the order may be based on the Colorado statute (C.R.S. ยง 13-21-504.5), which does have a fee-shifting provision.
Haven't seen the pleadings, but looks like a F.R.C.P. Rule 11(b) sanction. in an action not supported by law, sanctions can be assessed against attorneys or party.
...Perhaps the lede should state that Lucky Gunner was awarded legal fees. They didn't really recover any monies until the check clears. And it may be a long dry spell.
The Holmes trial just started today, therefore Lucky Gunner legally sold ammo to a law abiding citizen...how did this Brady case even make it to a judge? (Yes, we all know he did it, but from a legal standpoint...)
Please note that the Phillips are employees of the Brady Campaign. Lonnie Phillips had the title National Campaign Manager and Sandy Phillips was also "spokesperson and campaign manager".
Please note that Susan Philipps is the mother of Jessica Ghawi. On June 2, 2012 Jessica Ghawi left the food court at Toronto's Eaton Centre shopping mall minutes before a shooter opened fire killing 2 and injuring 3. A month later she was one of the 12 people killed by James Holmes in the movie theater in Aurora Colorado. Jessica was 24 when she died.
I'm sure Brady will pay it when pigs fly. I do not know the specific circumstances around how this suit was filed, but if the Phillips family were sought out by Brady to file the suit, I would report their attorneys to the bar and sue for legal malpractice.
In the mean time, I fully expect The Brady Campaign to do a little more blood dancing and claim that Lucky Gunner has added insult to injury by making this poor family destitute after helping to murder their daughter.