Monday, August 31, 2009

Second email to Judge Benton

From: RDShatt
To: laura.dorris@kingcounty.gov
CC: steve@hbsslaw.com, jkaren@jonesday.com
Sent: 8/31/2009 8:16:55 A.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: Re: In re EXPEDIA HOTEL TAXES AND FEES LITIGATION (Judge Benton)

Dear Judge Benton,

I would like to expand on my email that I sent you over the weekend.

I have two contentions that I think are deserving of more attention than they have heretofore received. The two contentions have a connection to each other I believe.

First is the one I indicated in the prior email, to wit, I contend that class action litigation such as this case does not promote an objective of the law to lessen corporate wrongdoing, and such litigation is in fact counterproductive to that end and it undermines the fostering and inculcation of ethical business conduct. My argumentation to this effect is set out at length in the previously cited article of mine: Does the Law Undermine Business Ethics?

Second, I contend that this litigation is very questionable in serving the social utility of "doing justice." The main reason it is questionable is that I believe insufficient attention is paid to the extent to which this litigation at bottom is only about making transfers of amounts by and among parties in interest who are not culpable of any wrongdoing. It is possible there has been wrongdoing by corporate officers and employees or other individuals, and as a result some innocent parties have received a benefit from the wrongdoing and other innocent parties have had a loss or cost imposed on them. Whether or not there has been such wrongdoing, the case against the corporation should be considered as an unjust enrichment case, and nothing more. The facts and circumstances of all the persons who have been unjustly enriched and at whose expense they have been unjustly enriched are likely highly variable and somewhat indeterminate, and it is likely there has not been adequate investigation, or opportunity for argument, as to persons who are contended to have been unjustly enriched, the particular facts about whether or not he was unjustly enriched or, if he was unjustly enriched, about whether more is being taken from him in the litigation than the amount by which he was unjustly enriched.

The reason I believe insufficient attention is paid to viewing the case as being nothing more than an unjust enrichment case is a certain blindness that has arisen in the law because the plaintiffs' lawyers get their riches by and large out of the pockets of parties in interest who are innocent of wrongdoing. In order to do that, they want to bang the drum of corporate wrongdoing and do not want any reasonable and thoughtful consideration of factors such as who the wrongdoing individuals are, how much those individuals benefited from their wrongdoing, how much they being called on or not called on to compensate harmed parties, and to what extent is it fair and just in the situation to have innocent parties in interest pay for an alleged loss.Having stated the foregoing reason of the explanation for my second contention,

I think you will readily discern its connection to my first contention.

I hope you will reflect on my two contentions. If you think they have merit and they persuade you that litigation such as this class action has less social utility and does less to serve the ends of justice than you previously thought, I hope you will signify that by reducing the amount of attorneys fees you would otherwise approve.

Thank you for your attention.

Sincerely,
Robert Shattuck

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Email to Expedia directors

From: RDShattTo: ir@expedia.comSent: 8/30/2009 11:10:19 A.M. Central Daylight TimeSubj: To Expedia directors: Re King County, WA taxes/service fees litigation

Dear Expedia directors,

I am dismayed that the Expedia Board decided to capitulate in the King County, Washington, class action lawsuit. See Expedia Litigation Settlement Website.

I have sent this email to Judge Benton and hope to take further action to register my strong citizen's disapproval about this litigation. Whether there is any support the Board, or individual directors, can give to me on the matter, I don't know, but any such support will be most appreciated.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Robert Shattuck

Email to Judge Benton

From: RDShatt
To: laura.dorris@kingcounty.gov
CC: steve@hbsslaw.com, jkaren@jonesday.com
Sent: 8/29/2009 11:52:09 A.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: In re EXPEDIA HOTEL TAXES AND FEES LITIGATION (Judge Benton)

Dear Judge Benton,

I don't know if the bailiff will pass this email along to you. I hope the bailiff does, but that is the bailiff's call to make and not mine.

I have received notice as a purported member of the plaintiff class, but I am writing this email more as a citizen who has strong beliefs that class action lawsuits such as this Expedia litigation, on balance, ill serve important societal interests, they do not contribute positively to advancing relevant societal interests in a way that justifies them, and such litigation should be prevented from occurring.

Whether I, as a member of the plaintiff class, will actually file an objection with the court is something I will decide later. In the meantime I am copying this email to counsel for the plaintiffs and counsel for the defendant (the plaintiffs' law firm does not appear to provide email addresses for its individual attorneys and I am using this general contact email address steve@hbsslaw.com for the plaintiff firm that appears on its website and hopefully the email will be passed on to Mr. Volk).

One of the reasons I believe this sort of class action litigation ill serves important societal interests is that I believe the litigation undermines corporate business ethics. My argumentation in support of this contention is set forth at length in this online article of mine: Does the Civil Liability System Undermine Business Ethics? I hope you will take a look at that article and see what you think.

For your information, I expect to be taking other steps to express my citizen's disapproval of this litigation, and I will be indicating my actions in this Section J8 of my blog How To Combat Plaintiffs' Lawyers.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Robert Shattuck

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Expedia

I have received notice of a class action lawsuit against Expedia, information about which can be found here. As might be expected, I will take steps to attack the lawsuit, and I will indicate my efforts in this blog.