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Its so sad that so many black people have turned their backs on Tavis Smiley who has always championed our cause, I understand African Americans thinking Obama will care for them, but Obama doesnt even think he is black.

Let me show you a few statments:

In Chicago, sometimes when I talk to the black chambers of commerce, I say, 'You know what would be a good economic development plan for our community would be if we make sure folks weren't throwing their garbage out of their cars'.�

"Y'all have Popeyes out in Beaumont? I know some of y'all, you got that cold Popeyes out for breakfast. I know. That's why y'all laughing. ... You can't do that. Children have to have proper nutrition. That affects also how they study, how they learn in school."

Obama at the Alfred Smith Dinner " There is a mean rumor that I fathered two kids in wedlock"

I think African Americans have gone crazy for this white racist liberal media backed Barack Obama. Obama, and this post racial nonsense is just another gimmick and ploy, if Obama was really post racial he would have talked to AIPAC, THE RAZA and went to Tavis Smileys state of the Union. Every change Obama gets to insult the black community he does it. I dont trust Obama, and Obama doesnt represent Blacks nor does he represents the truth about racism in this country...

African Americas are turning on Tavis and supports Obama because they are brainwashed by the media. This is not American Idol and go study recontruction. I am a proud African American and thats how I want to world to see me,if the world as a problem with color its not my problem its yours. Obama is a good reader and I know people have used race against him, but campagining in the double talk manner he has is wrong. Obama is just as racist as any other politiican towards blacks.

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Dear Sir or Madam:

I would greatly appreciate your advice. Could you kindly advise me as to how to proceed in filing a lawsuit for legal mal-practice in Maryland without an attorney to represent me?

Although I have heard horror stories about people who try to represent themselves in court being classified as fools, It seems that I may have no choice in the matter due to the statue of limitation running out at the end of this month.

You see for the last two years, I have been trying to obtain the services of a Philadelphia, Pa. Mal-Practice attorney without success, and due to my Rheumatoid Arthritis, I have not had the strength to search for an attorney elsewhere. Therefore, it seems that I have no choice but to represent myself.

However, I am hopeful that by my initiating the filing of the case, it can be done before the statue of limitations run its course; and then perhaps later, I will be able to obtain the services of an attorney before I go to court.

However, I don’t know where to start. This is why I am contacting you. Do I have to file in Baltimore, Maryland because the attorney I am suing have his law office located there, and the arbitration hearing was located in Frederick Maryland, or can I file the case in my own state, Phila. Pa.? Also, which court do I file my legal Mal-Practice case--State Court or Federal Court? I also have copyright infringement issues to address because the Publisher has continued to sell and profit from my children’s book.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to advise me. In the following paragraphs, I will try to briefly explain the reasons I feel I have a legitimate complaint against my former attorney for legal Mal-Practice.

In 2005, my breach of contract case was dismissed by state court because an arbitration clause in my book publisher's contract stated that an action against the publisher must be brought before an arbitrator before it can be filed with state court.

However, I was unaware that state court had thrown my case out because of a clause in the publisher's contract and I am not certain that I would have ever learned about it if I had not been persistent several months later in calling the law firm for an update. In fact, the first couple of calls for an update were unsuccessful.

No one seemed to be able to locate the attorney who was assigned to my case. Therefore, I asked to speak to the head attorney, the attorney who had originally accepted my case on a contingency basis, the attorney who had stated that he was going to get the publisher to give me an accounting on the number of books sold, and he was going to get an injunction to stop the publisher from selling my book after the contract had been canceled.

When the head attorney answered my call, he stated that the attorney he had previously assigned to my case was no longer associated with his firm. He stated that there was no need for me to worry about the case even though he informed me that the case had been thrown out of State Court due to an oversight that the previous attorney had made. He explained the arbitration clause the publisher had inserted in its contract was no big deal even though it was the reason state court did not hear the case. He said the arbitration clause was just a formality, but we had to go to an arbitrator hearing before going to a higher court.

He told me not to worry about the arbitration clause. He misled me because he quoted a number of cases that had been won in arbitration and stated that the awards were large enough that the clients did not pursue their cases any further. He said if he finds the arbitrator's decision unfavorable he will appeal that decision. He actually assured me that there was nothing to worry about, and he stated that he would not have taken my case on a contingency basis if he felt it was not worth more than $100,000.00.

Then he told me about the mistake the previous attorney had made. He said the first attorney he assigned to handle the case messed up by trying to go around the arbitration clause. He said he wasn't pleased with his performance, therefore he was no longer associated with his law firm. He said he was going to assign my case to someone in his law firm, who supposedly had more years of experience than the previous attorney from the other law firm.

However, the attorney from his law firm, whom he assigned to my case seemed to have had even less experience than the previous attorney. Although the attorney from the other law firm filed my breach of contract complaint in the wrong venue, the one from his law firm was deceptive and obviously did not have my best interest at heart.

I first noticed his lack of concern when I refused to sign the publisher's settlement agreement; he threatened to withdraw his representation or charge me an hourly fee if I wasn't willing to settle for whatever the publisher was offering. Nonetheless, he knew the reason why I had refused to sign the settlement agreement.

He knew in the settlement agreement the publisher was denying the fact that his publishing company had infringed on my copyrights after terminating the contract in June of 2004. He knew there were multiple evidence in his possession proving that the book publisher was not only continuing to sell my children's book in the United States, but he was also selling it in foreign countries as well.

He also knew there was evidence proving that the publisher had purposely stepped up its marketing campaign since terminating my contract in June of 2004, because prior to agreeing to terminate my contract in June of 2004, the book publisher had done very little to advertise and promote my children's book. In fact, prior to terminating my contract, I don't think my children's book had had a shelf life.

The attorney knew also that the book publisher had sold some of the book rights to a foreign publisher, Lightening Source, and had sold some of the marketing rights to the America's Most Wanted televised network, so the sponsors could use my material to do a mini-series for children.

The attorney had researched the information himself and had learned that the America's Most Wanted televised network was utilizing my material for an enactment entitled, "Safety Tips for Children." He knew that the AMW not only used my storyline for its enactment, but it also used the name of my main character in its enactment.

In addition, he knew I refused to sign a prior settlement agreement because the publisher failed to mentioned any monetary value for damages in its settlement agreement. Yet. the publisher had the audacity to emphasize the fact that it would be willing to give me all of my copyrights back in its second attempt to get me to sign its so-called settlement agreement even though the company had previously claimed that they had given me all of my copyrights back and there had been no infringement.

Although my attorney knew that the book publisher was now using my copyrights as a bargaining tool, after scamming me out of my copyrights for four years and having paid me only $1.92 in royalties during the entire period it had my book in its possession, he wanted me to settle for whatever the publisher was offering.

The attorney also knew he had in his possession numerous hostile letters, in which I had received from the book publisher, threatening that it would continue to sell and profit from my children's book because I had filed a complaint with the Attorney General's office. He knew there was a letter among the publisher's antagonistic letters that was clearly racist. He knew the publisher had originally wanted me to believe that my book did not have a reading audience because I was no Nora Roberts, Sidney Sheldon, or J. K. Rowling’s.

He knew that the publisher did not promise to stop selling my book until the AG got involved in July of 2004. Then still the company continued to hold my book hostage and sell it after that date even though they had agreed to revert my copyrights back to me and send me documentation verifying the transaction.

Of course, he knew the company had never sent me a verification letter, and had changed its mind about canceling my contract after agreeing to the cancellation in June of 2004.
He also knew the company had consistently claimed that it had done nothing wrong doing the arbitration hearing and had claimed that it had reverted all of my copyrights back to me when the AG got involved in July 2004, yet its last settlement agreement in January of 2007 proved the publisher was trying to use my copyrights as a bargaining too. That settlement agreement promised to convert those rights back to me if I'd agree to a non-disparage/confidentiality clause.

Yes my attorney was aware of all of these facts but failed to mention any of them during the arbitration hearing. My attorney's actions proved that he did not have my best interest at heart because he threatened to withdraw his services or charge me an hourly fee if I did not sign the book publisher's settlement agreement..

In hindsight, I recall my attorney becoming progressively hostile towards me because I had refused to sign the publisher's so-called settlement agreement. I honestly feel that he could have done something as sinister as making a deal with the other side. He even had his supervisor to write me, threatening to charge me an hourly rate or withdraw the firms representation if I did not accept the publisher's offer even though there was nothing benefiting me in that offer.

Then a couple of months later when we went before the arbitrator, my attorney still displayed a hostile disposition towards me. His aloofness and lack of interest in my case were so apparent during the arbitration hearing, the arbitrator actually questioned him as to why he had not organized his evidence prior to coming to the hearing. The arbitrator also noticed that he was spending most of his time searching through his documents pretending to be looking for evidence that were required to prove his case.
It seemed as if he purposely came unprepared for the hearing because he was working with the opposing counsel to win the publisher‘s case. Actually, I don't believe he wanted me to attend the arbitration hearing.

When he informed me that the hearing would be held at the opposing attorney's law office, I immediately objected to the location, but he disregarded my wish to have it in a more mutually friendly environment. He also disregarded my request to have a stenographer present at the hearing. Therefore, the arbitration hearing was held at the opposing counselor's law office as stated and there was no stenographer present.

However, the day of the hearing I learned that the arbitration hearing was actually being held at the publisher's building because the opposing attorney had relocated his office inside the publisher‘s building. Nonetheless, my attorney failed to inform me of this fact.

In hindsight, I actually believe the arbitration hearing was corrupt. There was no stenographer present, and my attorney seemed not to have wanted me there. I believe my attorney purposely gave me a wrong location for the arbitration hearing because he knew it was actually being held in the publisher's building even though he knew I would be traveling from Philadelphia to Maryland by Greyhound bus, he gave me the wrong information.

The location he had given me for the opposing attorney's law office was located on the other side of town. However, I was fortunate to find someone at the opposing counselor's former law office, who knew where he had relocated his office. This person actually drove me to the correct location. Therefore, I wasn't very late. However, I believe if I had not shown up, the hearing would have proceeded without me and the case would have been dismissed.

When I did arrive, my attorney looked disgusted. He immediately requested a private conference with the arbitrator and the opposing attorney before starting the hearing. During the arbitration hearing, the arbitrator admitted to seeing evidence of fraud and copyright infringement, but failed to award me damages. He also admitted to seeing evidence of malicious coercion via the book publisher's initial contact.

Yet he took no action to deter such predatory business practices. Instead of taking appropriate action to deter Internet predators, he accepted the publisher's representative's word and awarded me royalties only for the number of books that the publisher's representative stated were sold over the four years period.

In June of 2007, when I received the arbitrators award letter, which was under $1,500.00, I noticed that the period for royalties owed was only calculated for the first year that the book had gone on the market. There was nothing awarded for the other three years that the publisher had continuously held my book in its possession. Yet, my attorney wanted me to rejoice due to the fact that he had won the case. When I expressed my dissatisfaction with the award, he refused to appeal the case.

However, three months later, although I did not accept the $1,500.00, and although my attorney had told me that he would not be representing me in my appeal, he wrote the arbitrator a letter questioning him about his attorney fees and asking if the amount he awarded me was a typographical error. I know this because he sent me a copy of the arbitrator’s response.

Thank you for your consideration.

Best Regards,
Dolores Dawes-Lloyd
dawes00@juno.com
http://www.authorsden.com/enovel
cellphone 267-593-5450 or 267-632-9340

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