Law Office Stories: Having a Lawyer for a Mom

SRS Professional Photo 1992

If you want to grow up to be a lawyer, it probably helps to grow up with a mom who is a lawyer. You understand “probable cause” and “incorporeal hereditaments” before you finish middle school.

On the other hand, there may be times when you don’t want to make the connection.

After working for me, then starting law school, Eric was competing for a job with a large, downtown Seattle firm. Obviously, the interviewer had been primed to ask questions that tested the coping skills of both men and women in their prior employment.  “Has a partner in that firm ever made you cry?” Eric was asked. Wisely, he didn’t speak the answer that sprang to mind. “No, but one of them used to spank me.”

Eric Blaine Martin Professional Photo 2012

     We represented one Jerry Blaine from Las Vegas, who was the inventor of a golf putter. Blaine was sued together with David Sampson for allegedly breaching the trade secrets involved in some guy’s invention of the “Optic” golf club. David had been approached by the guy at Bear Creek Country Club to do some marketing work, and had signed confidentiality agreements, but nothing more ever came of the project. David never saw the club. Nearly to the day that David signed the non-disclosure agreement, Jerry Blaine posted an internet ad for sale of his golf putter, coincidentally named the "Optica." Blaine and David had never heard of one another, but they were sued for conspiracy. 

     The plaintiff’s lawyer, F. Ross Boundy from the firm of Christian, Kindness and O’Conner, took a compelled sworn statement from David. It was a deposition that I attended. The more questions the lawyer asked, the harder David laughed, and the more perplexed Boundy and I became.  From the questions, it became clear that the lawyers had tried to assure that David had assets worth suing for, so likely had put a detective on his case. They asked about his address, his car, his employment, but none of the answers were what the lawyer expected.

     Finally, David cut it short. “You have the wrong David Eugene Sampson,” he said. He pointed to his own blonde hair and golf-course reddened complexion. “The other David Eugene Sampson is an African American. He’s a right-handed tennis pro; I’m left-handed ranked amateur.” David also established that his alleged client had never shown him the golf club he was suing over, and that David had never heard of Jerry Blaine from Las Vegas, Nevada. Then we found out that the attorney was the only person who had ever purchased one of the golf clubs, mail order from Nevada. He had directed it to be shipped to Seattle in order to give the United States District Court in Seattle authority over the matter.

     Eric wrote the motion to the court to dismiss the suit before trial, on the basis that the Court did not acquire jurisdiction over a man in Las Vegas through the attorney’s making one mail-order purchase simply in order to sue. Before the judge ruled on the motion, the attorneys dropped the case. And shortly after that, Eric was making the rounds of meet-and-greet meetings with law firms recruiting new lawyers. He attended the meeting for Christian, Kindness and O’Connor, and mentioned to one of the senior partners that our firm had had some dealings with his. When Eric named the golf putter case, Eric said that the old man “Swatted his hand at me like he was getting rid of a fly.” 

     Eric also worked for me on the case of Jake the Plumber, who was sued by his former customer, a lawyer whom I’ll call “Jones.”  Mr. and Mrs. Jones had a leak in their basement, and called Jake to fix it, which he did.  Mrs. Jones was home at the time, and Jake suggested that she send a copy of her plumbing bill to her homeowner’s insurance to see if they would pay for it. The insurance company denied the claim, but Mr. Jones also refused to pay, contending that Jake had assured him that insurance would pay for it. Jake had to sue to collect. Eventually, Jones conceded the claim and paid the bill.

     Thereafter, Eric was hired by the large Seattle firm of Davis, Wright, Tremaine. Like all new associates, he was assigned a more senior attorney to be his mentor. He happened to be assigned to “Jones.”  Mr. Jones asked him about what he had done before, and Eric said that he had worked for Sampson and Wilson. “Ah yes,” Jones said. “I had some dealings with them before.”  He explained that he took part in a weekly meeting of the firm’s lawyers to present cases and assess pending litigation.  He had told the group that he had a client who was being sued by Jake the Plumber for non-payment, after the plumber had (allegedly) said that homeowner’s insurance would pay the claim.  The assembled attorneys said, “It’s not a case. Your client should pay.” Then  Jones revealed that the claim was his own. His colleagues laughed at him. “Who would take their legal advice from somebody named ‘Jake the Plumber’,” they asked.  
      Wisely, Eric never told Jones just how well he knew that case.