Mobile man protests outside Dothan law firm
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A man protesting outside the Cochran, Cherry, Givens and Smith law firm in downtown Dothan on Monday says his ultimate goal is to be on “Oprah.”
“The reason I want to get on ‘Oprah’ is because when Mr. Cochran was alive he was on her show and he was talking about how he started this firm for the little man,” Mobile resident Clemzo Gildersleeve said. “…In my opinion, the Cochran firm don’t even deserve to be in business.”
Gildersleeve spent several hours Monday morning outside the law firm, protesting what he described as unsatisfactory performance by a lawyer for the firm’s Mobile office on an insurance lawsuit.
In 2004, Gildersleeve’s daughter was rear-ended in an automobile accident. Gildersleeve sought compensation from the other driver’s insurer, Allstate, and was offered a payment he felt was unacceptable. Gildersleeve hired Cochran, Cherry, Givens and Smith attorney Jerome Carter and sued Allstate.
Allstate later offered a settlement in the case, and Gildersleeve says his attorney asked him to accept it. Gildersleeve said he felt the settlement was too low, and wanted to take the matter to court. Carter withdrew from the case and filed a lien against any future settlement Gildersleeve might receive to pay for his services.
On Friday, Allstate settled Gildersleeve’s case for an amount above the original settlement offer, but part of the settlement was diverted to the law firm to satisfy the lien. That deduction led to Gildersleeve’s protest.
Gildersleeve’s protest drew honks from some passersby and one even stopped to ask Gildersleeve if he knew that Johnnie Cochran was dead.
Sam Cherry, Cochran, Cherry, Givens and Smith senior partner, said Carter acted within the bounds of professional conduct in the case and that seeking liens against judgments in cases where the attorney withdraws is standard practice.
Cherry said he doubts Gildersleeve will fulfill his dream of getting on Oprah Winfrey’s television program, but that the man had a Constitutional right to say his peace on Monday.
“The right to express yourself on a sidewalk about a matter of concern to you is your right,” Cherry said. “If you go down to the Dothan Eagle and apply for a job, and they didn’t give you a job, you could go outside with a placard saying that the Dothan Eagle isn’t fair to people applying for jobs. And he’s got the right to do that.”
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Reader Reactions
Right…whatever…
So what do you think about the article this thread is suppose to be about…?
NO I ENJOY WATCHING YOU FAIL TO BACKJ UP WHAT SHOOTS OUT OF YOUR MOUTH
And like a child you just can’t leave it alone…
This thread isn’t about you… and you keep repeating yourself…
I AM STILL WAITING TO BE SUED
tide
I agree with you 100% in your statements about Mr. Gildersleeve. I too believe he was wronged by the law firm of Cochran, Cherry & Givens. If you will go back and reread all the comments from the beginning to the end, you will see that. I support Mr. Gildersleeve in his quest for justice. I hope him well.
You did however, make a couple of small mistakes. First John L Senn is a guy and you referred to me as a her, but I’m not so petty as to argue that point.
The second mistake was that you seem to believe that I was belittling Mr. Gildersleeve. I was not…
If you will reread the comments from beginning to end, you will see that my childish comments were aimed toward RALT. In the earlier comments, I tried to talk to him as if he was a semi-intelligent adult, but he made some statements about a friend that I knew were not true. I even called the Bar Association myself to verify and told him so. Apparently calling him out on his statements angered him and it was like talking to a child. There was no reasoning with him.
Eventually, I tired of trying. So, I lowered myself to his level and began just messing with him in hopes that he would make further statements that could be used, should my friend decide to sue him. (Although he probably won’t, he’s just too good a guy for that). Admittedly I probably carried it further than I had intended, but to be honest, he was just too easy.
None of the conversation between RALT and I had anything to do with Mr. Gildersleeve. It was completely off subject.
Your points about the No Recovery, No Fee was right on target with my opinions as stated. I did send the story to Oprah, Fox, and the AP, but like you, I figure it won’t go any further.
I am appalled and disgusted by the comments made by Tiffany and most especially johnlsenn. Tiffany states that Mr. Gildersleeve is lazy, should get an education, get a job and work. How does she know whether or not Mr. Gildersleeve has an education? How does she know that he doesn’t (or didn’t) have a job? Mr. Gildersleeve appears to be an older gentleman who may just be drawing his retirement. He just may have been a serviceman…protecting YOUR freedom! How can you make such slanderous remarks about a person that you don’t know?
And speaking of slanderous remarks, johnlsenn, in her MANY comments, has called Mr. Gildersleeve a “crybaby girl, stupid, a loser, irritating, aggravating, a failure, a liar, ignorant, needs Jesus, needs rehab, can’t spell, can’t write, suffered a blow to the head, and is a 12 year old smoking pot”. WHEW…how can you judge someone that you don’t know personally so harshly? Bottom-feeders such as you obviously have no regard for other’s plights. As you stated, you have alot of time on your hands, and you have certainly made good use of that by repeatedly posting defamating comments just to “egg-on” Mr. Gildersleeve. I feel sorry for you and think that you should pray to God for forgiveness, that is, if you have Jesus in your heart. I don’t know you, so therefore can’t make that judgement…as you did with Mr. Gildersleeve.
The only mistake that Mr. Gildersleeve made was hiring the law firm of Cochran, Cherry & Givens…thinking he would be provided with the best counsel, since Cochran’s name is on the firm. If he lived in Dothan, he would know what most of Dothan knows about this firm, and would have sought help elsewhere. Case in point: while it is legal for Mr. Carter to put a lien against the settlement, to me it is not ethical nor morally correct since Mr. Carter QUIT the case. The firm PROUDLY advertises “No Recovery, No Fee Charged” in their 2 full page ads in the telephone book. It doesn’t state that if an attorney quits, they WILL charge you for all of their “prep work”, and I’m betting that they didn’t tell Mr. Gildersleeve that. Since Mr. Carter quit the case, no recovery was made by them & they shouldn’t be entitled to a dime. They don’t want to go to court, since it is easier for them to make their money from settlements. This firm “For The People” let Mr. Gildersleeve down, as they have many others. On the other hand, they HAVE made alot of money from others…they should change their slogan to: “For The Firm”. I am glad that you have contacted Oprah’s producers, and hope that he is allowed to tell his story on national TV. But that will never happen. Sam Cherry will see to that. His smugness in the video made me sick to my stomach.
To Mr. Gildersleeve: You are very brave to fight for your rights, and it is sad that you must do it alone. Keep fighting for JUSTICE! Sometimes it is an uphill battle…one that I am quite familar with personally. God Bless You and your daughter! I don’t know what her injuries were, but I pray that she is doing well. Good luck!!
blah, blah, blah…still not new… you’re boring me…
And whatever it is that you typed looks just like about half of your postings anyway… I’ve had to decipher most of them, so why not one more… lol
YU HAD A OPPERTUNITY TU PROVE THE TITLE IS A FAILURE . YU FAILED . THATS NOT MY PROBLEM . THATS YOURS.BESIDES THAT HERES SOPMETHING FOR YU. !@#$%^&*()_+|}{poiuytrewq. YU FIGURE IT OUT I KNOW WHAT IT SAYS
blah, blah, blah…That’s not new…try again… all I got out of that was that you had something in your hands that was a failure…(but I don’t think I would really spread that news around)...
2 WEEKS THATS LAWYER TALK. I GOT EVERYTHING IN MY HAND TU BACK UP WHAT I SAY. WHAT A FAILURE
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