Frisby Aerospace, one of the defendants in the Eaton case in which Ed Peters was hired to secretly influence Judge DeLaughter, has filed an antitrust suit against Eaton in the Middle District of North Carolina.
The sixty-three page complaint tells Frisby’s side of this mess in as much detail as any pleading I’ve seen; it’s a comprehensive account of their view of the Eaton case, from the facts that lead to it through its dismissal by Judge Yerger. While they are still somewhat constrained by the documents still under seal (primarily, I would think, the special masters reports documenting the evil deeds of Eaton and its lawyers), they are able to lay out a pretty coherent story of what they contend Eaton did and why.
To follow this, you need to remember that Eaton and Frisby are competitors in selling hydraulic pumps and motors in the aerospace industry. Eaton apparently dominates the market, and Frisby was trying to break into it. After several Frisby hired away several Eaton engineers, Eaton began asserting that Frisby had also stolen trade secrets in the process. Eaton was able to convince the US Attorney in the Southern District of Mississippi to indict several of the engineers for stealing trade secrets (indictments that have been largely dismissed without going to trial). The Eaton case was the civil suit about all this.
The new Frisby complaint doesn’t hesitate to name names, listing Mike Allred, Ed Peters, and several out-of-state outside counsel of Eaton as coconspirators.
There is a detailed description of how Allred entered into a “consulting” contract to pay a fact witness, a discharged employee of Frisby, and then denied it in discovery. Frisby learned of the consulting contract when the witness sued Frisby for wrongful discharge; the witness’s lawyer produced the consulting contract in discovery, thereby confirming what Frisby apparently suspected and what Eaton’s lawyers had denied.
The complaint alleges that, when Allred set up the consulting contract, he documented what the witness was going to say but then exaggerated what he’d been told. They then presented this amped-up information to the US attorney in the Southern District of Mississippi to obtain indictments of Frisby engineers. The complaint alleges that Allred and Eaton provided false information to the US Attorney.
The complaint then outlines how, after Eaton had been caught on the consulting contract, Judge DeLaughter appointed Jack Dunbar as a special master to investigate Eaton’s concealment of the consulting agreement. When Dunbar’s conclusions were as bad as possible, Eaton decided to hire Ed Peters to secretly influence DeLaughter. Among the steps they took were having Allred discharged so that he could become the scapegoat– the idea was to blame the discovery violation on Allred and not the client. The complaint does not suggest (as has been suggested elsewhere) that Allred continued to work on the case behind the scenes. Dunbar was discharged and a new special master hired (here, the complaint does not spell out Peters’s role in that).
One series of allegations that never quite becomes clear relates to Judge Lee’s recusal in the federal court criminal cases. After he had made a series of rulings adverse to the government, the government moved to recuse him and he recused himself. The complaint alleges that this was a product of Peters’s secret machinations but does not explain how.
Here’s the Frisby complaint. This will be a lawsuit to watch. I learned about it from a newspaper story linked in this YallPolitics post.
The article in the Cleveland paper spends most of its column-inches discussing the lawsuit filed by Eaton shareholders against the corporate officers and board members. I guess an Enron-style food fight will eventually develop, as Eaton reaps what it has sown. I love how the spokesperson declines to comment on the suit, but freely comments on the associated complaint. Evidently, there exists no hair so fine that it cannot be split.
Here is a link to the 1st article published last month.
http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/01/eaton_lawsuit_thrown_out_over_attorney_misdeeds.html
someone with the press or some blog author somewhere should file a suit to unseal the sealed information.
I tried to scan the pleading on my iPhone. Is Fridby alleging that Peters had a slice of the contingency fee contract? Was this known before now?
Frisby is alleging this. I think it’s something that was assumed but not known.
One odd theoretical aspect of that complaint is this: It alleges that lawyers who started it had a contingent fee interest, but on the other hand alleges repeatedly that the lawsuit was designed not about winning the big bucks but to hurt Frisby and keep it from successfully competing with Eaton– that the lawsuit was a sham based on lies that Eaton used to show potential contractors to keep them from doing business with Frisby.
Wouldn’t be the first time Allred has outsmarted himself. Remember how he took his cut of the Loewen Group verdict?
I could hardly care less about the business woes of Eaton and Frisby. What concerns me … really cut right through me … is that I know personally all the lawyers involved in this mess. For all … save one, perhaps … I would have accepted as absolutely truthful anything they told me in the course of litigation if I were opposing counsel. This is not to say that I wouldn’t try to array evidence and witnesses to counter their positions … that’s just how The Law works. But otherwise, I would have shaken their hands and would have accepted pretty much at face value anything they told me.
I know these guys. I know them. Or … I thought I know them. Their actions fuel my already overstoked cynicism. Mississippi’s legal profession quietly accepts and feeds a cesspool.
Ben, most attorneys I know would also have accepted Richard Scruggs representations in litigation. When it gets bad enough to erode even attorneys’ confidence in the truthfulness of their fellow attorneys, just think what the educated members of the general public must be concluding from all of this. Is there any way to solve this problem?
The justice system has degenerated to the point where it is nothing but a tool for the rich and powerful. The lady is not only blind, but deaf, and dumb as well.
Any suggestions for stopping the current downhill trend and getting the justice system back on track, PHD (or anybody else)?
here’s a question – why hasn’t the US Attorney for the Southern District gone after these crooks. oh yeah, he was too busy being their tool i reckon. well, now seems like a really good time with Lampton gone and all.
Confounded, PostHoleDigger and others, if you would like to chat about the case, please feel free to call me at The Plain Dealer. My direct line is 216-999-4758. Email is agrant@plaind.com.