Duane Dog Chapman was arrested yesterday and is pending extradition to Mexico. Dog had traveled to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico in 2003 to retrieve Max Factor cosmetics heir Andrew Luster, who was wanted in the U.S. on rape charges. Andrew is now in jail, serving a 124-year term. The Chapmans were jailed in Mexico for a brief time for the incident three years ago. Bounty hunting is considered a crime in Mexico. However, support is pouring in for the famous bounty hunter. A&E, the channel that airs his reality show "Dog the Bounty Hunter," issued a statement saying, "A&E supports Dog and his family during this difficult time and is proud of his role in helping to bring a convicted serial rapist to justice."
Finding a great lawyer can be a difficult task. September 11th was a time of tragedy for so many families. Surprisingly, many lawyers saw this as an opportunity to take advantage of widowers. One attorney sought $2,000,000 as a contingency fee for helping a widow of a man who died in the attacks.
He filed suit in federal court seeking a declaratory judgment entitling him to his fee. Simmons, Jannace & Stagg moved to dismiss the federal action, arguing that the Victims Compensation Fund did not provide federal jurisdiction for an action by an attorney seeking to protect his fee.
In addition, they argued that:
· there was no reported case that upheld jurisdiction under the Fund where the issue concerned a private dispute between an attorney and his former client concerning the amount of a legal fee.
· that the federal court should abstain because the state Surrogate’s Court had already begun an inquiry into the size of the attorney’s fee.
After hearing these arguments, the court agreed that the Victims Compensation Fund did not provide federal court jurisdiction. the Victims Compensation Fund did not provide federal court jurisdiction. The court also agreed with simmons jannace & stagg’s argument that it should abstain from exercising its jurisdiction. As far as Simmons, Jannace & Stagg is aware, this is the first federal court decision holding that attorneys’ fee disputes arising out of the September 11th Victims Compensation Fund should be litigated in the state courts.
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