Opinion by Consumer Advocate Tim Bolen
I just checked my “Pacer” (Federal Court information system) file, and Barrett has not yet brought in a lawyer, and filed a response to the Doctor’s Data lawsuit against him. Could it be this easy? Could it be that rancid old Stephen Barrett, when push comes to shove, just could not back up his public statements in a Court of law, and is just going to let the collection agents pick him clean? Could it be that Doctor’s Data will have unlimited access to Barrett’s years records showing whom he plotted with?
(I’m really getting all excited thinking about this).
As I said in my last article:
In the Federal Court System a defendant is given 21 full days to properly Respond to a lawsuit. Let’s assume, for the moment, that since Stephen Barrett was sued by Doctor’s Data on June 18th, 2010, that he was served with papers on the 19th, the next day. Counting 21 days from that moment brings us to Monday, July 12th, 2010 – the deadline for Barrett to hire an attorney who can practice in Federal Court in Chicago, Illinois, and prepare, and submit a Response to the Court. That’s eight days from now – and Barrett does not even have an attorney yet.
Well, he only has about four more days… And, as I indicated:
What happens if Barrett does not Respond?
If Barrett does not Respond then Doctor’s Data simply files for what is called a “Default Judgment,” asking the Court to award everything they asked for – the Five Million in Damages, the Fifteen Million in Punitive Damages, and a permanent Injunction barring Barrett from talking about Doctor’s Data, etc.
The Judge’s answer is almost automatic..
Once the Judge issues the Default Judgment and the Permanent Injunction Doctor’s Data, through their attorneys, will go into the “Judgment Collection” phase, using an attorney firm that specializes in draining blood out of reluctant Defendants. Barrett will meet a lot of people who have tattoos on their faces in the process of collecting Stevie’s furniture, his car, his Mont Blanc pen, and the gold fillings from his teeth.
So, why hasn’t Barrett “lawyered up” and answered?
Let’s think about that. There are probably three main reasons:
(1) Attorneys who play in Federal Court are not cheap. My guess is that any firm in the Chicago area is going to want a minimum $250,000 retainer just to start. AND, they are going to want to see where Barrett can produce an income stream to come up with the $100,000 per month it will take to maintain the Defense. My guess is that Barrett may have already tried to get somebody to come in Pro Bono, off of his so-called quackwatch legal advisory list, and they probably don’t bother to return his telephone calls. If he was talking to a big law firm, they will want an income/asset statement that they could lien against for their fees. I doubt that there is any major income/asset to lien against. I also guess that any firm that DID actually look at the case probably told Barrett to settle immediately – that he has NO chance of survival.
(2) Barrett has been desperately trying to raise money from his minions for his Defense fund. But, I have some idea who these people are, and from my observation, I’d guess that most of them are losers like Barrett, hangars-on-his-coattails, who fifty bucks would be a struggle to send – and he won’t raise the 1.5 million he needs. More, Doctor’s Data will no doubt subpoena the donation records looking for co-conspirators.
(3) Barrett has, pretty much, always relied on “free” lawyers. But, as he has found out – you get what you pay for. See the section below:
Barrett’s lawyers up to now…
I’m going to make you laugh.
Unknowns:
Barrett sued Jim Carter MD, the author of Racketeering in Medicine, and the books Publisher Hampton Roads Publishing. Barrett’s attorney then, I can’t remember the attorney’s name, filed the case too late, so it got tossed. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to use this guy…
Barrett sued Julian Whitaker MD, who authored an article about the NCAHF’s list of 2300 Doctors published in the Townsend Letter. Barrett’s attorney then, I can’t remember the attorney’s name, filed the case too late, so it too got tossed. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to use this guy either…
Christopher Grell
Then Barrett got involved in a few cases with Christopher Grell, whom he advertised, for a while, on his quackwatch website, soliciting, for instance, for people to sue renowned Author/Health Humanitarian Hulda Regehr Clark PhD. As we all know all that worked out to be probably one of the worst disasters in Barrett’s career – and very expensive, although I don’t think he paid Grell a nickel for his time. Since then, Grell is being sued by Canada’s Terry Polevoy. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to use this guy either…
Morse Mehrban
Then Barrett got involved with an attorney named Morse Mehrban, who sued a bunch of people in California for the NCAHF, basically claiming that since their homeopathic products had not been “proven,” they, through some strange logic, needed to pay the NCAHF money. That ended in double disaster for them when Barrett and Wallace Sampson got declared “biased, and unworthy of credibility,” and the NCAHF got tagged to pay over $112,000 in attorney’s fees – and never paid them. Mehrban, at the time, was quoted as saying “I Consider Suicide Daily,” but never indicated why he said that.
David Wilzig
Barrett’s latest attorney David Wilzig of Los Angeles is sort of an interesting character. I went to Court in a case in Orange County, California to watch his technique one time. I had already written a revealing article about Wilzig’s activities in the world of Dentistry called “Quackbuster Attack on NICO Flops…”
More, you should read this other article, below, I wrote. It was simple – but below it I put a copy of the entire case Barrett and Wilzig put together – and they had to drop it because the Plaintiff went public saying she never, ever authorized any of it. Below is what I said. You can read the text of the lawsuit they had to drop by clicking here.
The “unauthorized” Nanjo lawsuit…
The following text, below the line, was copied from Robert S. Baratz’s “Casewatch” website before they took it off the site. The site is edited by Stephen Barrett. The case shown below in the text, is the one the Plaintiff, Barbell (Barbara) Nanjo claimed in a notarized statement, that she never wanted, nor authorized, nor believes in. The case was summarily dismissed.
“But, Barrett, and his vicious conspirators, manipulated the internet search engines like google, to put this “fake” case onto the first page of those search engines – for his, and their, own purposes. Four of the Dentists listed in this case had to shut down their practices after this.
The manufacturer of the fully FDA approved Cavitat device had to file for bankruptcy.
Businessweek magazine, and the Los Angeles Times newspaper both ran articles on this, as though this case had merit. Since the case was dismissed, neither publication has run a follow-up article.
Tim Bolen”
But Wilzig doesn’t seem to have good courtroom skills. In the one case I watched he turned over the case to another attorney on the next day – and I could see why.. Then there was another case he lost against Dentist Alex Pana in California (separate article coming).
Then too, when you read the Doctor’s Data v Barrett, et al, case, you get a sense that there is a larger Defendant base the Plaintiff is after, and that there will be more than one Amended Complaint as more information becomes available. Wilzig is the attorney suing Doctor’s Data in another case – and that case, according to the Federal complaint, appeared on Barrett’s website at the same time the case was filed. To me the case suggests collusion – and if Doctor’s Data finds what they want, I’d bet that Wilzig, himself gets added on as a Defendant.
So, who will Barrett lawyer up with?… Of course Barrett will lawyer-up.
Or, will he?
And, by the way – I don’t see an attorney, or a response from the NCAHF yet, either.
Stay tuned.
Tim Bolen – Consumer Advocate