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Plaintiff's Pride

By John Dietz - Email Editor

Date: March 21, 2006

Political, economic and social gains generally come at the misfortune of others. It’s not a total zero sum game, but it can be pretty close. These battles are often fought more precisely than those fought in a Norman Schwarzkopf war room. Their weapons are a set of calculated maneuvers that make the stealth bomber look like a child’s toy. These transfers of wealth are generally fought in kitchens, boardrooms and for the sake of this discussion, courtrooms.

Plaintiffs come in all varieties. The ones we should be most concerned about are the ones that use emotion as their weapon of choice. Armed with a litigator and something to prove, many plaintiffs will continue to pursue a case for the sake of something as odd as pride. These suits are the most dangerous because they fight for principle.

Look at the peculiarity of our new heiress to the American dream, Paris Hilton. If you are bored of hearing about her supposed newsworthy exploits, then you must be somewhat amused by her outlandish quasi-statesmanlike appeal. It seems that Paris has gotten herself into a bit more trouble than usual. The April issue of Vanity Fair tells of an alleged verbal slander against ten years her senior and ex-boyfriend’s old ex-girlfriend Zeta Graff, former wife to an heir to the Graff diamond family fortune. Are you able to follow all of that (yikes…)? Oh yeah, just to clarify, the ex-boyfriend’s first name is also Paris…

It seems that this all started with the elder heiress Graff claiming that Paris worked as a prostitute on billionaire Paul Allen’s yacht at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. Of course this was all offset by Paris’s claim of an alleged attack from Graff at a London nightclub. Oh what Conrad Hilton would be thinking if he were alive today?

No need for any more details here. If you have any interest, pick up April’s Vanity Fair. Fast forward to the end of the story and Paris Hilton is now a defendant in a ten million dollar slander suit with Graff, who according to sources, refuses to settle. I realize bad press and good press are most times synonymous, but do you think Paris Hilton wants to be in a lawsuit with a plaintiff (Graff) who may just be there to bolster her rather stagnant acting career? The sad part of the suit for Paris is that Graff is possibly better off spending money with her lawyer than with her publicist.

Why do people litigate? The reality is that most of the time it’s not about right and wrong, it’s about the money. This is why asset protection works. We take the money out of the equation. So why would someone sue when the best they can hope for is a Pyrrhic victory.

The danger comes when litigation is based on pride. You would hope that litigation was just about money. You would hope that you were never sued by somebody litigating for pride (aka principle), but what if the person suing you is just ornery enough to fill a litigator's pocket because he or she can? It’s not the money, it’s pride, and it’s just that simple.

Sun Tzu would turn over in his grave for a war fought over pride. Asset protection does not work to stop these lawsuits, even though you still get to keep your money.

The bottom line is, if you have had success of any kind, you will be sued. The old saying, that it is lonely at the top, is true. People in history have always wanted to take down the big dog. It makes for great evening news. Think about it: In your community or profession or field of endeavor, the stakes can be just as high as, if not higher than, than America’s latest countess of the E-Channel. But whether the suit is based on money or pride, if you are asset protected, you still get to keep your stuff.

Get asset protected. Need I say more?

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