Shook Hardy and Bacon have decided not to extend their contract for suing old folks and pensoiners and anyone else who cannot afford a lawyer, given to them by the RIAA some time ago.
http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2006/03/13/story2.htmlShook Hardy & Bacon LLP has shut down a Kansas City lawsuit factory, transferring hundreds of federal cases against file-sharing computer users to a Denver law firm hired by the Recording Industry Association of America.
"Our contract with them ran out, and they have moved on to a new firm," said Trent Webb, chairman of Shook's intellectual property litigation practice group.
Two defense lawyers said Shook typically demanded about $4,000 per defendant to settle them, and an RIAA spokeswoman said it has pursued 18,000 separate defendants.
But the cases, filed in dozens of states, can be expensive to manage: Shook hired a subcontractor to operate a phone bank handling inquiries about the cases, and defense lawyers said the firm may have spent thousands of dollars pursuing judgments against defendants with little money.
Webb said he didn't know how many cases Shook pursued during its year on the job, and he declined to describe the law firm's work for the RIAA or say why the firm did not bid on renewing the contract.
Denver lawyer Richard Gabriel of Holme Roberts & Owen LLP said the firm replaced Shook as of Feb. 1.
Hmm so we see a new gang of parasites lined up to pick on the poor and usually lawyerless members of society as they can turn a fast buck with a few legal threats , hope you holme roberts & owen folks sleep real bad :twisted:
