[Roux]

ADA is one of the worst laws ever enacted. Bob Dole should be ashamed of himself.

[thecabal]

Well, I give him credit for finding a shakedown niche that Jesse Jackson hasn't taken yet.

[Principled]

Just let the creep pay for the modifications himself! He gives disabled people a bad name. He doesn't speak for me!

[Squantos]

Well if there's no ADA type of safety for lawyers in wheelchairs then invite him back to negotiate.........anything can happen........:o)

Problem solved.

[sgtbono2002]

So this guy just rolls from town to town in his wheelchair extorting money from small businesses who cant afford to accomodate the ADA . They either pay up or close up. Nice little scam he has going here. The ADA has cost Billions in this country from tearing up sidewalks and putting in ramps where no handicapped person has ever been, to lowering urinals they still cant reach.

This guy is no more than a legal con-artist. A shyster lawyer with a scam. Calling himself a "Warrior for the Disabled". He should call himself a disabled crook.

[Trajan88]

Is the silk pony Breck "Girl" (aka John Edwards) involved here?

[JimRed]

(In my sweetest Mr. Rogers voice) "Can you say blackmail? I knew you could!"

[A. Pole]

But Pinnock, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, offered a solution. Enter into negotiations with him, pay somewhere between $2,500 and $4,000 to the attorney for his fee and agree to correct the accessibility issues at their businesses. The alternative: Face trial and the exorbitant legal fees that would likely follow.

Hmm. I know the case of churches which cannot (it is too expensive) modify/enlarge their buildings because they would have to install elevators and ramps, so the people in wheelchairs could move without using others people help.

[Newbomb Turk]

This guy is just making tons of money screwing people. He has sued thousands of business in South Cal in the past few years.

He is responsible for the closure of one of the origional drive in restraunt hangouts in South Cal it was in Hot Rod Mag a few years back.

[Liberty Wins]

Will sue for food.

This guy probably got his first commie/lawyer/scum lessons from the ACLU.

[VeniVidiVici]

"On one hand, we needed to be made aware of the issue, which he did," said Elke Mussen, owner of Julian Drug Store and Candy Mine. "But it seems like he's doing this more or less professionally. I think it should be done differently."

THANK YOU, SIR! MAY I HAVE ANOTHER?

[YOUGOTIT]

It is called by other names: Protection money for the mafia goons; Pay off to the Mafia; Insurance for the Mafia; Or just plain outright blackmail.

Bitta Bitta Boom.

[ridesthemiles]

This is an historic town. The buildings deserve to be preserved, and not altered.

This is another idea run amuck.

[Starwolf]

Well it looks like I am going to be the only one to *very mildly* support the ADA here.

To start off with, I do have mobility issues. On good hip days I ride one of my motorcycles, on bad hip days its the car and parking in a handicapped slot (yes I have a blue placard).

Under the ADA, an attorney can only recover costs, not contingency fees or other profit. However, even at cost legal stuff can get expensive. There are a few lawyers out there who manage to do to nothing other than ADA, but its not a way to get rich. They are called ADA mills and worse.

The way the law was intended to work was that a complaint would be filed, if valid, a compliance plan is worked out(what need to gets fixed and by when), its recorded with the court, and things move on. Defendant pays for legal costs plus the cost of the modifications.

There is no effective defense against a complaint. The rules are very clearly written and quantitative. The "its too hard or too expensive" defenses are specifically not allowed. Many argue over that part of it and I have some sympathy with their position.

There are some really egregious actions on both sides of ADA compliance. As a person who needs the blue space some days, I *LOVE* reporting illegal parking in them to the cops and I also report the improper use of placards. I don't count parking space ratios, measure doorways or any of that. Once you need a blue space, you become very protective of them. Ag

I believe I have posted here in the past about issues in this area at my daughters former high school. Best was a statement by a vice Principal he did not think that the ADA and UFAS applied to them since the district made those decisions. I corrected their thinking forcefully without having to file a formal complaint about the total lack of slots. Later several of their staff got those expensive tickets for parking in marked stalls *WEG*

My brother does an occasional ADA complaint. A paralegal who works for him is in a wheelchair. They only file when there is no other way to address the issue. A recent conversation with him was enlightening. 1) The ADA lawsuit mills are in rapid decline, having pretty well filed on everything out there. 2)If you file ADA suits for people (valid or nuisance), you become a target. A number of the mills have been put out of business that way (yeah!) but other attorneys have also been caught in the frag pattern. 3) Many of the ADA mills were sloppy. They did not record judgments properly and cut other corners. Not surprising since there is not any real profit in it. If you think a building/business owner gets mad with the first complaint, wait until he gets another one from another lawyer. He has had that happen a number of times.

Overall the law is a mixed blessing. I like the "lack of profit", but wish there was a better standard for resolving access issues for historical building and ones where modification is impractical. It has solved a lot of access issues, and has incorporated accessible design into building code and design practice. Overall a good thing.

[jazusamo]

Leave it to an attorney come up with a legal extortion scam.

[10mm]

The wheelchair ramp and entrance to our shop is ADA-compliant. A morbidly obese paraplegic in an extra-wide wheelchair could not fit through our door and sat outside, screaming he was going to sue us for violating his rights. I told him to go f--- himself and get off our property, or I would have him arrested for tresspassing.

We never heard from him again. Fascist POS.

[dljordan]

Sounds like the lawyer needs a bullet behind the ear.

[Alter Kaker]

You Americans are crazy. In Israel we have an anti-amublance-chaser law that makes it illegal for a lawyer to repeatedly file these kinds of suits. If they try, they lose their license are faced with huge civil and even criminal penalties. This man should be in jail.

[dalereed]

Julian needs to post a sign at each end of town stating "handicapped not allowed in this town".

[CyberAnt]

The misconception is that because of the ADA - everybody is REQUIRED to make these adjustments.

NOT TRUE!!

The law says that you only have to make those adjustments IF SOMEONE COMPLAINS .. and not a day before.

In the City of San Diego, we have a disabled couple who live on this law. They purposely go around to all the restaurants in town, and when the ADA adjustments have not been made - they sue.