Just 10 plaintiffs filed 85 percent of those cases, and they were all represented by Potter Handy LLP.
Standing is the term used to describe what a plaintiff must prove to show that he or she is entitled to litigate his or her claim in federal court. Without legal standing, a federal judge has no jurisdiction and must dismiss the case. The barriers encountered can be physical or design features that create challenges for equal access such as door handles that are too hard to grasp or pull, counters that are too high, pathways that are too narrow for wheelchairs, handicapped parking slots not adequately marked, and doorways that lack ramps.
Of the resolved cases, the average time from filing the complaint to dismissal was 105 days, quick by the standards of most federal court cases. McIntyre said,"I feel like I need to apologize to people for being a lawyer when I see cases like this … when members of my profession file what I believe to be predatory lawsuits against small business for very minor infractions of questionable and obscure building code requirements because the law permits recovery of automatic statutory damages and attorney fees."
In December 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit decided an ADA appeal in the Los Angeles case Arroyo v. Rosas that involved the question of whether it was appropriate for the lower court to exercise its jurisdiction over the Unruh claim. Potter Handy was counsel for Arroyo. Under the 2015 amendments, a high-frequency litigant has to disclose in its court filing, among other things,"the reason the plaintiff was in 'the geographic area of the defendant's business'; and why the plaintiff 'desired to access the defendant's business.'"
It wasn't surprising, the appeals court said, that ADA filings in the Central District of California, where Los Angeles is located, jumped from 419 in 2013 to 3,374 in 2019.The district attorneys' lawsuit is based on the idea that in order to end-run the state court rules, Potter Handy had to get over the requirement that plaintiffs in federal court must have standing to file the lawsuit. The prosecutors allege that Potter Handy's clients did not.
There was a lack of"sufficient knee or toe clearance under outside dining surfaces" and also outside tables that were"too high."Whitaker said that he will return to the restaurant when he is told that it is accessible. In the meantime, however, he alleged that he was deterred from doing so. Ara Sahelian, the lawyer for the defendant, asserted that Whitaker had no genuine intent to return to the restaurant.
Sahelian asserted that Whitaker could not identify any single business he returned to, and he had no list or records of any return visits, and alleged that if Whitaker actually tried to go back to all the places that he sued, it would be a multi-year undertaking. In an interview with Bay City News, Price discussed his firm's ADA litigation practice and expressed pride in the firm's work.
The act was passed under the administration of George H.W. Bush at a time when new taxes were unpopular, so no agency was created to enforce the ADA. That work was left to private individuals.
There are multiple firms in San Jose who do the same thing
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