The Wedding Files: DUDE, YOU'RE SUED!

[gramps]

With your luck the judge will be related to the bride and groom...............

[billsh]

Bloo, Man this is worse than the commercial interruptions on daily soaps. Don't just leave us hanging waiting to find out "Who shot JR?" For all we know, your typing from prison as we speak.

[IndyJeff]

After reading the above post I would rather take a seat in an electric chair for a juice test before I would do another wedding.

[RichardtheSane]

Eagerly awaiting part two

[confirming my belief that the majority of the wedding photographers fees are indeed danger money]

[gramps]

YEA!!!!!!!!!! the good guy wins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[defordphoto]

Cool! Can I do weddings too?

Not enough money on the planet exists for me to do weddings.

I love it when the judge said: "It was just a wedding, folks. It wasn't a moon landing." Beautiful!!

You ought to make that your tagline.

Congratulations!

[RichardtheSane]

Good story
Good Judge
Good job they didn't win
Good thing you shared that

[what was I saying about danger money ]

[robertwgross]

Where I am, we got a convenient arrangement going a couple of years ago for weddings. One guy shoots film, and one guy shoots digitally. One kind of backs up the other that way. In the event that there is some sudden emergency or one photographer is detained for any reason, the other can basically shoot the whole thing. That makes for a convenient insurance policy.

---Bob Gross---

[rick barclay]

You should sue them for illegally recording your telephone conversations.
Then you could write another report on that here for our amusement.
You're a very funny guy.

[Tom W]

Another great read from Bloo Dog. Man, you really ought to consider writing a book. You've got plenty of wedding photography experiences, that's for certain.

[IndyJeff]

Bloo Dog, if I were you I would see the local prosecutor about them taping my conversations without my knowledge. I mean why not? Hell man they were looking to stick it to you in a big way, why not make them sweat a little looking at some jail time. Wonder how they would like to spend an anniversary in the hole, away from each other.

Oh and if the MOB & FOB show up at their trial just greet them and remind them how bad Karma can bite you in the as* when you least expect it.

[PhotosGuy]

No matter what I do, I always feel better when I stop doing it-- (Dogbert)

Dilbert -"Lately, the only thing keeping me from becoming a serial killer is my distaste for manual labor."
Dogbert - "You're preaching to the choir."
Way to go! One of life's "little learning experiences"! Look on the bright side. It could only have been worse if you'd been shooting for a relative, something I'll never do again!

[transcend]

Great story. Good to see greedy bastards like this finally come out on the loosing end, good stuff.

My cousin's wedding photographer from August died 2 days after the wedding..wonder if they will ever see the photos

[tbfoto]

As someone who is just really getting going in the wedding buisness this is really scarry. I started doing weddings just about two years ago and the one thing I had to learn is that you have to expect the unexpected. Not one that I have done so far has gone according to plan. I learned very quickly that it was alot more work than I had thought. I've not had a "Bridezilla" yet (knock on wood) but I know there is one out there just lurking, and waiting. All I can do is do everything in my power to to my job the best I know how and hope. I've always had thoughts of what happens if I get really really sick the night before or have a flat tire on the way or.....or...or...wow this COULD get real ugly. lol

Tom

[Belmondo]

Oh, I could write a book. In fact, I've often thought about doing just that.

My wife and I owned a real estate brokerage in Silicon Valley for twenty-some years, and litigation was an everyday fact of life. We gleefully retired almost five years ago, in large part because of the legal exposure that made us fret for our economic lives almost every day we went to work. People can and will sue for just about anything they can because they honestly believe that this is a legitimate extension of the free enterprise system. Even minor grievances are seen as sufficient justification to go back after the fact and demand compensation beyond all reason, whether warranted or not.

Rarely were the lawsuits the result of any actual impropriety on the part of one of our agents; they were much more likely the result of either hidden defects in the property, or unresolved disputes between buyer and seller.

Unlike Bloo Dog's case which was resolved in small claims court, we were always sued in amounts sufficient to warrant filing the case in Superior Court ($10,000 or more). Lawyers were always involved, and in all our twenty-odd years, we never went to trial. Our errors and omissions carrier would always setlle the case for exactly the amount of our deductible, $3,500.00. They never lost a dime on us in spite of dozens of lawsuits.

Attorneys know this. Their first question always is, "Do you have insurance." They will always tell the plaintiff they think he has a good case. Then, when the client agrees, they file suit, and later advise them to take the token settlement because they really don't have much of a case. The settlement is usually just enough to cover their bill. They file outlandish suits knowing that eventually, someone will pay money just for the nuisance value. The plaintiff gets little or nothing, and the lawyer has collected a moderate fee for doing little more than filing a complaint which was largely fiction.

Only one time did one of our agents actually do something that was actionable in my opinion, and that one was settled with just an apology. As it turns out, the client actually gained from the agent's actions, and was not damaged.

A few years ago, the county bar association where we were in business put on a seminar which was open to the general public. It was titled, "How To Sue a Real Estate Broker." The general thesis was that even if nothing goes wrong ---if the agent has done everything perfectly--- you should still sue him/her because your chances of collecting money are far better than 50/50.

The judge in Bloo Dog's case was refreshingly honest and candid. I'm sure this sort of thing goes on more than we'd care to admit. The best (and only) defense against it is to make sure everything is spelled out and agreed to in advance, and to document everything you can, especially for problems incurred along the way that have been caused by the customer.

In a way, Bloo Dog is fortunate the client chose to file four separate cases in small claims court. If they had lumped it into an aggregate claim of $16,000, he would most certainly have ended up in a different court with different rules of evidence, and very likely would have had to hire an attorney at a minimum cost of many hundreds of dollars just to file a response. He also would have likely gone against a much better prepared adversary with legal representation of their own.

The whole legal situation is a mess. As you might have gathered, I'm a big advocate of torte reform.

Glad Bloo Dog's story had a happy ending. It's too bad he can't go back against them seeking compensation for all the anxiety this sort of crap creates.