Open Letter to David B. Brown, "Attorney at Law"
(Update: In the interests of fairness, I have to admit- I stepped on my own schlong on this one with mountain-climbing boots. Upon closer examination, the Missouri Bar Association's official website does indeed bear out Mr. David B. Brown's claim that he is an attorney duly licensed to practice law in the state of Missouri. Therefore, I publicly make a heartfelt apology not out of any fear of litigation but simply because it is the right thing to do. Mr. Brown was right and I was wrong.
However, a law degree and passing the bar examination and being admitted to a state bar and being a member in good standing does not necessarily make one an angel. Upon further examination, it seems that 4144 Lindell Blvd, Ste. 226, the address provided to me by Mr. Brown in his emails, is one of the St. Louis branch offices for Alfg or the American Financial Law Group, which is a legal advisor to home lenders and buyers and not the Australian Football League.
So that beggars the question of why a real estate attorney is getting involved with a personal injury lawsuit that already has more holes in it than Scott Weiland after a week at the Chelsea? It was notable that his client, Mr. Kenneth Gladney, appeared sufficiently unharmed after his brutalization at the hands of those nasty blue meanies of the SEIU to be able to walk around, waving his arms and yelling at people while a fellow African American male could be plainly seen holding his left shoulder in obvious pain.
Yet the very next day, he's rolled out of the hospital unable to talk because he was so medicated so his mouthpiece, the aforementioned Mr. Brown (himself nursing a broken nose because a paramedic hit his brakes too suddenly), could do his talking for him. The case gets curiouser and curiouser the deeper one gets and it's only a matter of time before someone gets to the bottom of why a real estate attorney with no experience in this kind of litigation could and would so quickly get involved with the alleged victim in a personal injury lawsuit and find himself with his client on Fox News within hours after the alleged incident. Also unresolved is why would he be doing such unfamiliar work for a total stranger on a pro bono basis unless someone else was paying the bills?
Mr. Brown, upon reading these same questions, abruptly terminated our lovely correspondence by curtly saying, "You are insane. I will find you. I will sue you." Yes, yes, I'm sure you will, Mr. Brown, and you will pound your little podium with your shoe and crush me and all of us who dare to ask questions about your motives. But I'm not the one who was awake until 3 AM Googling my name, immediately responding to emails and threatening lawsuits against people with a Hotmail address and looking up your personal information other than what you'd already given me then suddenly severed all communication when these very good questions were posited to you.
So I deeply apologize for impugning your lawyer-ness but in the act of validating that all you've done is raise a whole host of far more interesting questions than whether or not you're a real shyster.)
What follows below is an actual letter received earlier tonight from one David Brian Brown, the "attorney" representing Kenneth Gladney, the conservative who was allegedly beaten up by SEIU members in St. Louis a couple of night ago. You may remember that I mentioned Brown in passing in my post on the subject. Well, apparently he took umbrage at the fact that I called him a shyster instead of what he is, a fucking fraud who never practiced law in either St. Louis or anywhere else for that matter.
Attorney David B. Brown
4144 Lindell Boulevard, Suite 226
St. Louis, MO 63108
(314) 681-6310
Licensed to Practice Law in the State of Missouri
August 8, 2009
Dear Sir:
You have posted a libelous statement about me on your blog, http://www.blogger.com/profile/01673461210301442978, where you describe me as a "shyster." A shyster is someone who acts in a disreputable, unethical, or unscrupulous way, especially in the practice of law and politics.
Merely because you hide behind the veil of the internet, this does not allow you to violate the law. As such, consider this e-mail my formal demand to immediately cease and desist from all libelous and defamatory comments. I also demand that you remove the said libelous word immediately from the aforementioned website. If you fail to do so, I will take swift and deliberate legal action at my discretion.
Sincerely,
David B. Brown, Esq.
My response, word for word:
You know, Dave, just because I'm a Z list blogger doesn't mean I'm an idiot. I've been doing some checking up on you on the internet (it's what I do for a living these days, you know, which greatly aids in separating facts from bullshit, which I'll get to in a moment) and I found the strangest thing...
...namely no mention of you being a licensed attorney in St. Louis or anywhere in Missouri. In fact, virtually all the hits I get when I use your name, address or combination thereof mentions you starting just last night and only in connection with Kenneth Gladney, whom I'm guessing found your name and contact information scratched on a bathroom stall.
I went to several search engines, such as this one, for instance, and found this on Lawyers.com, a site with a URL that you would think would be all-inclusive:
It says in red letters:
Your search returned 0 results.
Well, how about that?
Then I went to YellowPages.com and refined my search to Attorneys named David B. Brown in St. Louis, MO and found seven pages of attorney listings here.
Several shysters like you were on, appropriately, Locust St. but I couldn't find a single listing on 4144 Lindell Blvd. under either your name or anyone else's.
How about that?
Still, in the spirit of fair play and thoroughness and being well aware of the importance of triple-sourcing something before reaching any conclusions, I tried another website, Intelius.com.
Now, you would think that a common-sounding name like David B. Brown would return lots of hits in a major city like St. Louis, MO, but you'd be wrong. In fact, my search turned up only one David B. Brown in the entire state and he's not even in St. Louis.
Giving you one more shot at redemption, I tried one final time and this time copied and pasted your "business" address and tried to find you on Google maps. Well, it was the damnedest thing, Dave. I did, indeed find 4144 Lindell Blvd. and even the addresses and phone numbers of no less than 96 businesses at that one address. But I found neither a David B. Brown law practice nor even a single business that had the 681 exchange number!
How about THAT?
So, d'ya care to explain to me how a high powered, non-shyster attorney such as yourself can't be found on the Yellow Pages, Intelius, Lawyers.com and even Google maps? According to Google, your exchange number isn't even real, much less your pretensions of being an actual attorney.
Does Mr. Gadney know you're a complete fraud who Googles his own name, tries to threaten people with libel with a Hotmail email address and an "Esq." at the end of your pedestrian name or is this a little secret that we'll just keep between us and all 300 or so of my readers (which I can't guarantee won't temporarily swell to the thousands once I alert my buddies at Crooks and Liars, Buzzflash.com and other nasty lib'ral sites)?
JP
Pottersville
All things considered, especially in light of what I didn't find, I think you should've quit while you were ahead, Dave, and let me call you a shyster. Now we'll have to upgrade you to Fraud. Tell you what: Show me a valid law degree and license to practice law anywhere and I'll cough up Obama's real birth certificate, how's that?
posted by jurassicpork @ Sunday, August 09, 2009
47 comments
47 Comments:
Yeah, I can't find him either. Maybe he spelled his name wrong.
I don't like the term "shyster" in any context, but interesting that this Brown guy doesn't show up anywhere.
I found his pic from the Cavuto interview at YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtDRx3h8JJA
It may just be coincidence, but "David Brown" reminds me of Mark "Thor" Hearne, a notorious Republican operative whose phony voting rights group produced a report Bob Ney used in a phoning voting fraud investigation in Ohio after the 2004 election. Here's a pic of "Thor". Waddaya think?
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/003322.php
-- Sparkle Plenty
I'd step very carefully, but note just one of the many businesses at
#226 - 4144 Lindell Blvd Saint Louis, MO
http://www.barkforchange.com/content/how-order
I checked the Missouri Bar and found a David Brian Brown listed, bar #53436. However, the fact that you couldn't find him suggests that he isn't genuinely acting as an attorney, especially when you checked the address he gives and can find no reference to him there.
He still sounds like a shyster to me.
Any chance of someone doing a drive-by of that address? Maybe it's a mailbox stop?
4144 Lindell is the address for the Lindell Professional Building. A Google search shows various attorneys, doctors, etc., in the building. You can see a picture of the building by typing the address into Google Maps and then clicking on the street view. No drive-by necessary
Not all lawyers show up on lawyers.com, etc. For future reference, always check with the state bar first.
Mr. Brown, Esq. must not have learned about the Streisand Effect in law school.
IANAL, but even if calling an attorney a shyster is defamation per se, I would venture that calling the same attorney a "shitheel lawyer" isn't.
Standard disclaimer: I'm a law student and not a lawyer, and my advice for you has nothing to do with the legal merits of your defenses against this claim.
That said, this isn't a great spot to be in; even though you may have defenses, this is a game that it costs Brown almost nothing to play. He will represent himself, and file at a courthouse up the street. Even if you're completely vindicated and the court orders him to pay attorneys fees and costs, you may have to pay your attorney a retainer or costs (in the short term, before being reimbursed). You'll also have to deal with the aggravation and stress that comes with being sued. From a pragmatic -- rather than legal -- standpoint, you have to decide how much you want to fight this.
If you want to fight this, I would strongly recommend calling around to St. Louis area attorneys as soon as possible. You can also call the Missouri Bar and ask for their referral service; they may be able to refer you to attorneys that specialize in First Amendment law, or attorneys that will represent you on a sliding fee basis, or even to attorneys who are specifically looking for pro bono work.
If you decide it's not worth the hassle and aggravation, there's nothing wrong with just apologizing, removing the word and moving on. The reason he has any claim at all in this situation is that your use of the word shyster (and your follow up post) imply facts about him that appear to be untrue -- no license, unethical practices, etc. That these facts relate to his professional status make this a "defamation per se" claim, meaning that he doesn't have to prove damages. (Normally an uphill battle in defamation claims.) If in the future you stick to clearly identifiable statements of opinion he won't have much to stand on. (E.g., I personally think David Brown is the kind of asshole who gives lawyers a bad name. I think it's a ridiculous asshole move to threaten to sue someone over an adjective in a blog post. I think a lawyer should almost never find him- or herself as the plaintiff in a tort case; I think it abuses the trust placed in us as officers of the court.)
Just to reiterate, I have no opinions on the legal merits of your case, and did not intend the above as anything other than the observations of someone familiar with the legal system on the frustrations of litigation. This is not intended, in any way, as legal advice.
Jos:
I understand and thanks for your input.
I agree with josuelito. I recently graduated from law school and--like josuelito--I would be very careful about what you say about someone online without having all the evidence. Publishing something that may be untrue in a blog post is just like publishing it in a newspaper. You can be liable for damages for libel/slander. If I were you (and I'm not saying anything about the merits of your case), I would not contact other websites and spread this information. It seems like it would just be fanning the flames and giving the lawyer more to sue you for, because you would now look malicious to spread this information and to call him a fraud, especially after you have already determined that he is in fact a licensed attorney in Missouri. Just my two cents.
Hey, jurassic -- my girlfriend just told me about your situation (she read it on Eschaton), so I looked it up. You may be interested to know that not only am I a lawyer (as you probably know), but I used to practice in St. Louis (I went to law school at Wash U there) and I'm licensed in Missouri. Shoot me an email through my blog if you want to correspond on this.
Short version: calling a lawyer a "shyster" isn't actionable under any theory I can think of.
P.S. Oddly, I used to live on Lindell, just a couple of blocks from the Lindell Professional Building, when I was in law school. Small world.
That these facts relate to his professional status make this a "defamation per se" claim, meaning that he doesn't have to prove damages.
Actually, I disagree. If Brown appeared on Fox News, then he's a public figure, or at least a limited purpose public figure (for this appearance), and your criticism of him is from that appearance. Therefore, he would have to prove that you wrote what you did with "actual malice," which is more than mere dislike or even hatred -- it means basically a desire to damage his reputation or his ability to earn a living. That's an extraordinarily high standard and one I think he'd be hard-pressed to prove in court (and the burden would be on him if he sues).
The earlier commenters are right that the hassle may be more than it's worth, but I think he's probably full of shit and he doesn't want this fight any more than you do. We shall see ...
I would like to know if Kenneth Gladney is still an Officer on the St Louis Police Force. He is or was a member of the St Louis "Crisis Intervention Team" (CIT) in 2006.
If Mr Gladney left the force; what circumstances caused his departure?
As an attorney licensed to practice in new york state, I could point out that the website to check, here in new york is Courts.state.ny.us
click on 'attorneys' then on 'attorney directory' then search by name.
lawyers.com is a commercial site. the fact that you didnt find him there doesnt mean anything.
If this guy persists, yes, we've had a threatened lawsuit, and maybe we can give you some tips.
Right now, I'm not terribly concerned about some low-octane shyster who threatens me from a hotmail address and has only a cell phone instead of a landline, especially one who doesn't seem to have any presence on the Web whatsoever prior to August 7th. A Daily Kos reader told me yesterday that the 681 exchange # is for cell phone numbers in the St. Louis area.
Still, if a judge thinks that I'm a sufficient threat to his fortunes as an attorney, then I'll entertain any and all suggestions.
David B. Brown, this is for you: http://faculty.msb.edu/hasnasj/GTWebSite/MythWeb.htm
I'm so glad his client is now a public figure...In my opinion,his client could be a shyster. Check this out from TPM:
The conservative activist who claims he was beaten up by union thugs in St. Louis while protesting against health care reform is accepting donations towards his medical care because he was laid off recently and ... has no health insurance.
So,let me get this correct...Some unemployed fool is protesting a plan for all American citizens to have health care....yet,he doesn't have coverage and would ostensibly benefit from such a plan..Wow.It just boggles my mind...Talk about fucking yourself over.
Just a note to anon. above: Internet? 30 years? Do some math, buddy. Do you really expect anyone here to believe the internet existed in 1979?
The new GOP solution to America's health care problems:
Begging.
Do you really expect anyone here to believe the internet existed in 1979?
The DARPAnet dates back at least that far, but it was not public-use then. I worked for DoD and I sent e-mails over the DARPAnet in 1982. There were text-based proprietary computer networks that far back; I think Compuserve was formed in the late `70s.
But what people call the "Internet", namely a global system of computers using graphical interface programs, starting with Mosaic and then Netscape and IE and Safari ,etc., well, that didn't happen until the early 1990s.
The DARPANET actually goes back to 1969 and was used by gov't scientists and technicians. But my critic was plainly saying that s/he has been doing research since 1979 both on and off the internet.
And said critic was right- It was a rookie mistake on my part. Had I merely checked the MO Bar Ass's website I would seen that Mr. Brown is indeed a duly licensed attorney... in the real estate market.
Which only beggars the question: Why is an attorney working in an Alfg office, which is a home lender, taking on a personal injury lawsuit?
Because 4144 Lindell Blvd., Ste. 226 is most definitely an Alfg branch and they do have a landline.
Since you now know that he is a licensed attorney, wouldn't it make sense to take down or correct your statement on your blog that he is a "fucking fraud" who never practiced law? I don't see a correction or retraction anywhere on your blog. If I wanted to avoid a lawsuit, I think that would be the first thing I'd do.
Calling a lawyer representing a faked beating victim a shyster is not libel. Even your admittedly sloppy research is OK as long as that's what you reported in your blog. You ran a search, you didn't find his name. You printed his rebuttal.
If public figures could collect damages from critics how would consistent liars like the Gateway Pundit, Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter would be out of business.
Well, shoot. Brown really exists. I like my "Thor" Hearne stirring up trouble scenario much better.
But the question of why a real estate atty is the legal voice for Gladney's a good one.
My bet is that St. Louis wingers jumped on the Gladney incident and Brown got the media gig.
I've read in several places that Gladney is a right-wing activist. Anyone have that verified? In the media interview I saw he claimed to have no dog in the fight, just trying to pick up some money by hawking some flags. That's a day labor job he could have gotten a line on anywhere.
Of course, he could be lyin', too. -- Sparkle Plenty
Oh, we've known from the beginning that he was right wing activist. It's also worth remembering that he said on Cavuto's show that he doesn't have an opinion on the4 health care debate one way or the other.
Which beggars the question of why he was really there, unless he was looking to get into a tussell so he could jump into an easy winnable lawsuit.
Anon: If my saying, "Mr. Brown was right and I was wrong" isn't plain enough for you then I apologize. I thought there would be no mistaking that for a retraction and apology. Sorry, also, for misoverestimating your intelligence quotient and reading comprehension skills.
That shouldn't prevent me from asking unanswered questions of great interest. There's much more to this than meets the eye.
jurassicpork, we must have been posting at the same time, because when I made my comment that you should probably retract your statement, your apology and retraction were not posted yet--or perhaps I was looking at a cached page. You don't need to personally slam me for that. I didn't personally slam you. I was just offering some advice.
It's funny that people want to discuss the forms that the Internet may have taken in 1979. "Online" doesn't just mean "Internet"; it could also mean BBS's or modem-access communities like the WELL (which started in the mid-80s.)
That said, the original anonymous poster was really just indulging in some gratuitous and unattractive self-puffery, true or not. The correct response should have been "Good for you, dipshit."
Um, I think we definitely need to investigate who David B. Brown, Esq. is and who he works for, but you need to go back to the drawing board with the Alfg information. Alfg St. Louis is a mortgage lending and real estate investment company, and may no longer even be at the 4144 Lindell Blvd Ste 226 address. I google Alfg St. Louis it lists 4243 McPherson Ave as the first address. American Financial Law Group is not the same company (not even the same acronym--would be Aflg, not Alfg), they're in Florida, according to your link.
In fact, if some no-name lawyer actually followed through with his threat I think he'd be up against one hell of an adversary. You could represent yourself with hand tied behind your back.
Ya know, I bet a fist full of Benjamins that the multi-millionaire white executives of both Big Pharma and the insurance companies (the entire lobby) look upon folks such as Gladney as...
Suckers!
However, a law degree and passing the bar examination and being admitted to a state bar and being a member in good standing does not necessarily make one an angel.
It doesn't?
Shit.
[takes off wings]
"You have posted a libelous statement about me on your blog, http://www.blogger.com/profile/01673461210301442978, where you describe me as a "shyster." A shyster is someone who acts in a disreputable, unethical, or unscrupulous way, especially in the practice of law and politics."
He's trying to pull a Palin on you.
Even if he were a reputable Attorney, he won't win the Gladney case.
One day Gladney is in so much pain he cannot speak, then the next day he's on Fucks News?
A decent Attorney wouldn't take a loser case like that. Like I said, he's pulling a Palin on you AND others. How far will these Deathers go?
Forgot to add in my comment that your reply to Attorney Brown, Esq. was great!
For some reason, I highly doubt that a "lawyer" would actually be dumb enough to file a lawsuit, claiming to have been slandered for being called a shyster. I am sure a jury would thoroughly enjoy that case. Given the popularity of lawyers, let alone the perception of the ones begging for airtime, I highly doubt that it would get far, if it did, the jury would probably agree with the person calling the lawyer a shyster.
It would be akin to a prostitute filing a lawsuit after being called easy.
You libs forget- a black man using his first amendment right was attacked by a big black union man for using his first amendment right.
You may prefer ACORN,COI, or HCAN, but as a real American, Gladney has a right to hand out flags, sell conservative pins.
Anonymous -- I'm sorry but the vids just don't support such a cut and dry encounter as you describe. You seem to be here to agitate and aggravate. I, for one, don't understand the usefulness in that.
-- Sparkle Plenty
.
The address is well known to me, since I used to help out at a non-profit concern renting there, and the office is about 1 mile from my flat. 4144 Lindell is indeed the Lindell Professional Building, a 5 story building across from a rather low-income strip mall. The rent is relatively low, about as low as one can get in a mid-town commercial office address. Therefore, small non-profit groups have been a significant proportion of tenants, along with hairdressers, single-person businesses such as graphic designers, and such. A few lawyers and psychologists have had offices, but it is a rather tacky building across the street from Army recruiting offices, Dollar Store, etc, so the more "successful" professionals are not tenants. It has long-time tenants and tenants who have very short leases, eg, campaign offices for local and state rep. level candidates. Amusingly, it had both NARAL and Birthright offices at one time, fortunately on different floors.
Alfg St. Louis is a mortgage lending and real estate investment company, 4243 MacPherson Ave (it's spelled differently in Mapquest than on the street signs), St. Louis, is about a short block from the 4144 Lindell Ave address. I'll do a driveby tonight on the way home, and if I remember, I'll let you know if it is residential or commercial. There's been some rehab and building in the area, and I don't drive by that stretch of Mac/McPherson daily.
4144 Lindell is indeed the Lindell Professional Building, a 5 story building across from a rather low-income strip mall. The rent is relatively low, about as low as one can get in a mid-town commercial office address.
In other words, my suspicions of the neighborhood are spot on- It's the kind of neighborhood where Lionel Hutz would set up a shingle. I did a Google street view and wasn't at all impressed with the neighborhood.
If you wanted to really chap his hide you could point out to him (as he is such a swell lawyer) that he ought to know the principles in Times v Sullivan (376 U.S. 254 (1964)) pretty much puts paid to his claims of libel.
By injecting himself into a very public arena, and making himself a public figure reduces the burden to one of actual malice.
Since the use of terms like "shyster" in the context of politcal debate has a long, and storied, history; such a person as Mr. Brown, Esq., can have no legitimae expectation that he is being actually impugned, because he has no reasonable expectation that persons who might otherwise be looking to hire him are going to encounter this writing of yours and assume it to be an informed comment on his legal abilities.
So, the claim of libel per se fails, and there is no grounds for a claim of libel per quod.
Me, I'd just have quoted one of the men I suppose to be his heroes... "Bring it on!"
Grammar note. Please stop using the phrase "beggars the question".
The correct phrase is "begs the question", meaning that it logically leads to it.
You are perhaps confused by common use of the transitive verb form of "beggar" in such constructs as "beggars description" or "beggars belief", (meaning "defies").
Anyone with a gripe, don't tell me what you know or what your philosophy prof, english prof, mother, father, brother, uncle, etc. always told you. Just go to Merriam-Webster's website and look up the transitive verb forms of "beg" and "beggar," and be glad you did so before opining.
Speaking of which, incidentally, I think you owe David Brown better than your grudging non-apology. And so do you, I bet (confession is good for the soul!).
On the other hand, David Brown appears to be a shithead, clearly, and a malicious actor. For evidence I refer you (and you too, David, you insect), David Brown's baseless slander of SEIU in his interview with Neil Cavuto on the afternoon of Aug 7-- in which Neil actually cuts him off in order to prevent him from digging the hole he's in any deeper.
Hey bud i thought you may want some information on David B Brown. He was, in fact, an attorney at one point. He worked for a firm called "Law dogs" in Saint Louis formerly at 5261 Delmar Blvd. It has been closed for years. He handled minor traffic violation cases. He then quit his job and began to sell political merchandise. This included buttons, flags, whatever he could sell. And party affiliation didnt matter, he sold to both sides. I know this because i once sold these buttons for him. He had kenneth gladney selling buttons for him that night, he always finds people to do this on craigslist. So yes he is eligible to practice law, but no he does not. He is one very creepy dude.
It was a year and a half ago. Who cares?
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