AN OPINION NEWSLETTER ABOUT CHULA VISTA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT |
CVESD’S LAWYERS FAILED TO PROTECT STUDENTS AND TAXPAYERS IN 2006 |
How good is lawyer Daniel Shinoff’s performance? The Carter Case In 2000, James “Ted” Carter was the basketball coach at Monte Vista High School in Spring Valley. He informed administrators when football coach Ed Carberry urged a student to take weight- gaining supplements. When it became clear that the school had no problem with this, Carter took a job at Orange Glen High School in Escondido. The student, Harlan Edison, was eventually hospitalized with kidney failure. Carter began to have problems at his new school when Dianna Carberry, the wife of the coach who urged the supplements, became principal of Orange Glenn. Dianne Carberry fired Coach Carter. In the lawsuit that followed, jurors found that Carter's reporting of his concerns ultimately led to his firing as an act of retaliation by the wife of coach Ed Carberry. Dianna Carberry swore under oath that she knew nothing about any problems between her husband and Carter, or that any such disagreement affected her decision to fire Carter. Not a single juror believed her. They decided Escondido Union School district should pay verdict on the $1.18 million to Carter. Who represented Escondido School District? None other than our own GUHSD attorney Daniel Shinoff. |
Next assignment for the board: Get rid of STUTZ LAW FIRM (see pages 3-4) |
BAD LAWYERS COST MORE THAN THEIR HOURLY RATES INDICATE How much do bad lawyers cost? They cost a lot more than their hourly rate would indicate. To make more money, they prolong problems. They end up charging millions of dollars for cases that would never have arisen if schools were given good legal advice, or had been advised to settle early. Instead of agreeing to do the right thing for students and teachers who have been damaged, bad lawyers cover-up documents and witnesses, clog up the courts with cases that should have been settled, and clog up schools with bad employees. |
CVESD REPORT Page 4 JAN. 2007 |
What are the hidden costs of bad lawyers like Dan Shinoff? Why did school administrators in the James "Ted" Carter case allow the harming of children’s health and the firing of a good employee? Why did school board members in Escondido prefer to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to Shinoff and Morris when James Carter would almost certainly have been willing to settle for an amount similar to, or, more likely, less than what the lawyers were paid in this case? Because school administrators and school board are influenced by the unethical lawyers who work for insurance companies and joint powers authorities. When the Carter verdict came out, Shinoff should have said to the Escondido school board: “Look. You’ve spent lots of money on my services, which just got you bad publicity. Don’t spend more on me. Use the money to settle with Carter. This is very bad for schools to treat good employees like this, and to spend huge amounts of money to defend bad employees like Carberry.” Instead, Shinoff recommended an appeal. Shame on you, Dan. Your advice is not only bad for schools, it doesn’t even pass the human decency test. |
Logan Jenkins said in a San Diego Union Tribune piece on April 9, 2005: “If I were the district's attorney, I'd advise this simple…action plan to be completed before the end of the school year: You lost. Settle.” But Shinoff doesn’t believe in doing right by good school employees. He prefers to protect bad ones like Dianna Carberry and her husband. One of his favorite tactics is bankrupting the opposition, who so often tend to be middle-income school employees. The North County Times reported on April 6, 2005: “During the three years since his termination [Carter] has been unable to get a job interview at any school district in the region. Carter said the court battle has cost him about $300,000 in legal fees, and that he has had to refinance his La Mesa home a few times. Instead of settling, Shinoff recommended that Escondido School District appeal the case. That would push Carter even further into financial difficulties. Did Shinoff think he had any basis on which to appeal? Apparently not. After another year and a half, on December 20, 2006, Shinoff’s partner Jeffery Morris wrote to the Court of Appeal that he had recently begun settlement talks with Carter. What was the purpose of Stutz law firm’s strategy, other than to enrich themselves, waste taxpayer dollars and burden the overcrowded court system? The purpose was to make a good man desperate to settle, so desperate that he would settle for less than he was entitled to. And probably a lot less than the district paid to Shinoff and Morris. Lawyers like Shinoff and Morris are not clearly working to benefit the schools, the students or the taxpayers. Who are they working for? Themselves, and the school board members who care more about maintaining their own power than they care about anything else. |
Shinoff tries to force winners into bankruptcy |
A causa de acciones por parte de Libia Gil y Gina Boyd, el Distrito Escolar de Chula Vista tuvo problemas legales. Al parecer, el abogado del distrito, Daniel Shinoff, cree que los distritos escolares no tienen obligación de obedecer la ley. El abogado Shinoff se siente con derecho de recibir cientos de miles de dolares al año, dinero que debería estar beneficiando a los niños estudiantes o empleados que han sido dañados, de una u otra forma, por falle del distrito. |
mauralarkins.com |
Due to actions of Libia Gil and Gina Boyd, Chula Vista Elementary School District got in trouble with the law, and paid FAR TOO MUCH to DANIEL SHINOFF’S law firm. The district needs new lawyers. Lawyer Daniel Shinoff seems to think that school districts have no obligation to obey the law. He thinks school districts should pay HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS a year to HIS FIRM, and NOT A DIME to students or employees who have been harmed! |
CVESD REPORT Published by Maura Larkins Website: mauralarkins.com Email: sandiegoedreport@cox.net |
La superintendente de antes, Libia Gil, despojó de sus derechos a personas creativas con ideas diferentes. Necesitamos gente honesta al cargo de la educación, que respete la ley y el valor de la democracia,. |
Creative thinking and dissent were forbidden by our old superintendent LIBIA GIL and teachers association president GINA BOYD. We need honest people who respect the rule of law and the value of democracy in charge of education. |
Dirigido a los miembros de la comunidad de Chula Vista: |
An Open Letter to the Taxpayers of Chula Vista |