Could $131 kill C.L.Park District deal?

Could it matter to the Crystal Lake Park District whether a deal to buy the Viking Dodge real estate could be slowed by a $131 court order?

In January Judge Michael Caldwell ordered James Samaras, Jr. and Viking Dodge to pay Wayne Beto, Marengo, $131.00. Has Beto been paid yet? Not according to Wayne Beto.

Of course, maybe the deal won't really be affected, because James Samaras, Jr. does not personally own the real estate that he'd like the Park District to pay $6,000,000 for. And Viking Dodge doesn't own it, either. The real property is owned by Samaras' limited liability company, James Real Estate, LLC.

But the Park District will want to be sure that it is dealing with a man of integrity and who has respect for the courts in McHenry County, won't it? You know? Mr. Samaras probably just "forgot" to write a check to Wayne, or maybe he didn't know where to mail it to. Or maybe he's waiting for the $6,000,000 from the Park District to roll in, and then he'll pay Wayne.

Wayne's attorney goofed, big-time, by not putting a pay-by date in the Order that Judge Caldwell signed. He should have put "within five business days and in good funds" in the Order.

Wayne could get a judgment for the $131.00, but everyone, including Mr. Samaras and his attorney, knows it would take months. Wayne would file the action, and then Mr. Samaras' attorneys would get busy with Motions against it. Eventually, Wayne would get his money and all his legal fees and expenses, but at this point it's just not worth it. And Mr. Samaras knows that.

Maybe Mr. Samaras will be a gentleman and hand his $131.00 check to Wayne on Wednesday night at the Crystal Lake Planning and Zoning Commission meeting or at Thursday night's Crystal Lake Park District Board of Commissioners meeting.

Wayne - back in action

If there is one guy in McHenry County you don't want to get on your bad side, it's Wayne Beto of Marengo. Wayne is a nice guy but, if you deal him a ration of verbal abuse, you pretty quickly find out that Wayne is not going to accept it.

Here's Wayne today with his new car, a Kia. Had the folks at Viking Dodge been polite and respectful two years ago, Wayne would now be driving a two-year-old Dodge. You can find the whole story elsewhere here; just search for Viking Dodge.

Wayne was in court for about the 13th time on January 14, 2009, in Viking Dodge's $500,000 lawsuit against him. On that day Viking Dodge and James Samaras, the Plaintiffs, asked to withdraw the lawsuit, and Judge Caldwell allowed that. Judge Caldwell did order the Plaintiffs to pay Wayne the amount of his Appearance fee, which was $131.00.

I know things are slow in the car business, but one of the things you really should do is follow a judge's Order, especially when it involves only $131.00.

Did Viking Dodge and James Samaras pay? No. NO.

On Monday Wayne went to court and spoke with Judge Caldwell, who told him to go and collect his $131.00.

As you may have read earlier this week, Wayne went to Viking Dodge's attorneys, Campion, Curran, Dunlop and Lamb, P.C., where he was received most ungraciously by Mr. Missimer and Mr. Curran. They told him to clear out and threatened to call the sheriff's department, which they did.

On Tuesday Wayne went back to see Judge Caldwell and told him exactly what had transpired at Campion, Curran, Dunlop and Lamb, P.C.

I rather suspect that Mr. Samaras, Viking Dodge, and Campion, Curran, Dunlop and Lamb, P.C. will quite soon see the wisdom of somebody writing Wayne at check for $131.00.

Should Wayne file a complaint against Mr. Missimer and Mr. Curran?

Wayne Beto v. Viking Dodge - Not Over Yet

I thought I had written about all there was to write about the sage of Wayne Beto v. Viking Dodge, but it's not over yet. You remember Wayne; right? The man with the grey Dodge Magnum with the signs plastered all over it, urging passersby to go to RipOffReport.com and read about Viking Dodge?

When Judge Caldwell agreed to Viking Dodge's motion to withdraw its case, or whatever the fancy footwork was, earlier this year, his Order was for the Plaintiff (Viking Dodge and Jim Samaras) to pay Wayne $131 as reimbursement of his court costs.

Would you believe that Viking Dodge has not coughed up the $131 yet?

This morning Wayne was in Judge Caldwell's court to complain that Viking Dodge had not paid him. Wayne told me that the judge told him to go and try to collect it. And so he did.

Being a good, loyal, faithful, trustworthy, kind, reverend, law-abiding citizen, Wayne remembered Viking Dodge's threats to have him arrested for trespassing, if he entered upon their property. So, instead, he went to the offices of the lawyers for Viking Dodge: Campion, Curran, Dunlop & Lamb, P.C., right there on U.S. 14, just up the road from Wayne's Corner.

Wayne was shocked at the reception he got there. Wayne told me he first spoke with Mr. Missimer and then he spoke with Mr. Curran. Now, I'm going to be polite here and refer to them as "Mr.". Wayne said they were anything BUT polite to him. How about "rude, unprofessional, intimidating, threatening" for starters? Just how you'd like to be greeted, if you walked into a law firm.

And then Wayne said Mr. Curran ordered him out of the office or he'd call the police. Wayne said Good Bye and walked out, and they did call the police. Wayne waited and soon a McHenry County Sheriff's deputy showed up, spoke with Wayne, and then Wayne left.

You are probably familiar with Wayne's reaction to being verbally mistreated at Viking Dodge. He parked across the street from Viking Dodge for two years. Well, the signs about Viking Dodge are off his vehicle. As a matter of fact, he has gotten rid of the Magnum and is very happy with his new Kia.

Wayne will be right back at Judge Caldwell's court tomorrow morning, and he will ask the judge to enforce a judgement against Viking Dodge, including all collection costs. AND he will ask Judge Caldwell to cite Viking Dodge for contempt of court. AND he will ask Judge Caldwell to address the rude behavior of Attorneys Missimer and Curran. Like, maybe arrange for them to be guests of Sheriff Nygren for about three days, and I don't mean at his Wisconsin vacation house.

And I suspect that Wayne will seriously consider filing grievances with the McHenry County Bar Association, the Illinois Bar Association, and the A.R.D.C. (the Illinois Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission - http://www.iardc.com/). You know? You would think they'd know better than to mess with Wayne...

All they had to do was be polite and say something like, "Thanks for coming in, Wayne. Since you had an attorney, we really can only communicate with him, but we'll get hold of our client (Viking Dodge - still in business - for how much longer?) about the money it owes you. We'll let your attorney know by Friday." And that would have taken care of that.

Instead, Messrs. Missimer and Curran have bought themselves a ton of trouble. And I wouldn't be surprised to see Wayne's new Kia is sporting some new signs and parked in a new spot one day soon. Let's see. Where would a good spot be? How about 8600 West U.S. Highway 14?

The Sign Guy - down but not out

It's all over but the shouting and screaming.

Judge Michael Caldwell heard a Motion to Dismiss this morning by Viking Dodge, which asked the judge to dismiss its $500,000 lawsuit against Wayne Beto.

Wayne's the guy, you may recall, who has been parking on U.S. 14 across from Viking Dodge - the guy who owns a Dodge that he bought from Viking Dodge - the guy who has the signs taped all over his car that express his opinion of the way that Viking Dodge conducts business. (Click on the photo to enlarge it for a good view of the signs; then click Back on your browser to close the enlarged photo.)

Wayne's case was called at 9:04AM, but neither his attorney nor the attorney for Viking Dodge was in the courtroom. Where were they?! The judge let it slide and told Wayne to sit down and wait for counsel. The two lawyers showed up and the case was called again at 9:31AM.

Even though I was sitting in the front and as close as possible to the judge, it was virtually impossible to hear what was being said between the lawyers and Judge Caldwell. Lips were moving, though, so the business of the court was proceeding. As a matter of fact, the jaw of Viking Dodge's lawyer was moving even when he wasn't talking. Was he really chewing gum right in front of Judge Caldwell?

The Motion before Judge Caldwell was to dismiss the case - a case that was filed on November 3, 2006 - more than two years ago. Wayne told me that it was continued 13 times, and today Viking Dodge wants to dismiss it???

Wayne's attorney, Jim Mullally of Franks, Gerkin and McKenna of Marengo, was to object to the Motion to Dismiss. Wayne had told me that he didn't want the case dropped. Wayne wanted the case to continue. He even offered to pay the costs of the deposition they had been trying to get from Jim Samaras, owner of Viking Dodge. Wayne wanted a truthful statement from Jim Samaras to support his Complaint in Circuit Court.

Unfortunately, Wayne was never able to get Samaras deposed.

Just before Judge Caldwell ruled on the Motion, Wayne asked if he could speak, and Judge Caldwell allowed him to do so. Wayne stated that this case had been in court for two years, that he was on Social Security, and that this case had cost him $7,000 in legal fees to defend himself. Wayne was hoping that Judge Caldwell would order Jim Samaras and Viking Dodge, the plaintiffs, to reimburse him for his legal fees.

Judge Caldwell did not. So, where it stands is that Viking Dodge and Jim Samaras were able, through their lawyers, to start a case in court and then, after two years, to drop it.

Wayne's lawyer explained to Wayne after court that, had this case been heard in England, a judge probably would have ordered Viking Dodge and Jim Samaras to pay Wayne for his legal fees.

In the United States, however, you can sue somebody, cause them to incur large legal fees, refuse to comply with the requirements of the case (such a deposition) and then drop your case, and not have to pay the legal costs incurred by the defendant.

Wayne's car was in front of the courthouse this morning. Wayne has been gratified by the response of the motoring public to his parking near Viking Dodge and driving all over McHenry County with the signs on his car. Many motorists have stopped to talk with Wayne, ask about his signs and to share their own stories of sales experiences with the same dealer.

The next step is to analyze the progress of his case and determine whether it could have been conducted more efficiently and more economically. Should a case like this have dragged on for two years? Should the court have allowed it to drag on for two years?

There is a certain amount of legal maneuvering that goes on in any legal case. But, from my observations in Woodstock, judges need to put their feet down sooner and more often, and tell lawyers to stop fooling around and move forward with their cases. Any continuance needs to be for good purpose. And, when a judge says that something is to happen by a certain date, then it had better happen.

If I were a judge and told a party in a lawsuit that his deposition was to be taken by a certain date, I would not be nice to him when he came back to court and said it hadn't been done. I think I'd give him three days in jail for contempt of court and send a strong message through the legal community that, when I said something, I meant it.

And my ratings from lawyers? They'd either be really high or they'd tank.