This afternoon a jury rendered a verdict in favor of the TWA pilots in their DFR lawsuit against ALPA. This is a tremendous victory for every pilot group who happens to find themselves in a merger with a larger pilot group. The TWA case represents the other side of the same DFR coin as our lawsuit against USAPA: in TWA, the DFR was the union failing to follow its merger policy. In Addington, the DFR occurred when the union followed the merger policy, but then ignored the result. The fact that we have a different name on the union door is trivial as far as the law is concerned.
The attorneys which litigated for the TWA pilots were Martin Green and Allen Press of Green Jacobson, P.C. These were the original attorneys retained by Leonidas, LLC, before hiring Polsinelli Shughart. The two Leonidas founders met with Mr. Green and Mr. Press at their Saint Louis office in September of 2007. A representational agreement was reached and one of the Leonidas founders wrote a check for $25,000 of his own money to be used as a retainer. Mr. Press, and another of the firm's excellent attorneys, Fernando Bermudez, provided Leonidas with critical legal analysis which allowed the West to stand firm against the growing threat posed by the East pilots both through ALPA and USAPA. It was just after this critical time that Mr. Press discovered a potential conflict of interest in his representation of the AWA pilots, as our DFR case potentially tracked back to ALPA. The firm was already representing the TWA pilots at that time, and their case was clearly against ALPA. When one attorney represents two different plaintiffs in unrelated matters against the same defendant, pernicious conflicts of interest could arise. Also, it was Lee Seham himself (who had been retained as an “expert witness” on behalf of the TWA pilots) who demanded that the Green firm abandon its relationship with Leonidas, or he would exit the litigation on behalf of the TWA pilots. We would like to thank Lee for his excellent and helpful analysis in the TWA case, which was validated this morning by a jury. Unfortunately for USAPA, that analysis diametrically opposes Lee's legal position on its behalf.
Hence, it was Mr. Press who referred us to Marty Harper. The Leonidas founders were always impressed by Martin, Allen and Fernando’s work, and there is no doubt that the TWA pilots have had outstanding litigators on their side. Once again, thank you to Martin, Allen, and Fernando for your work on behalf of the AWA pilots. Most especially, thank you to Allen Press for referring us to Marty Harper and Andy Jacob. Both the TWA pilots and the AWA pilots have had to walk very difficult paths. Neither group chose these ordeals, but they are our respective realities. Fortunately, it appears to be working out as well as possible for both wronged pilot groups. Tonight as we contemplate another stunning victory for an underdog, we suspect that we are not alone in expressing our heartfelt congratulations to the TWA pilots who funded own their litigation and never gave up. WELL DONE!
Note: According to several former TWA pilots we have spoken with, the bulk of the funds donated to their litigation effort came from pilots who were furloughed and underemployed. They did this knowing that their opponent had unlimited resources and could delay justice for many years.
Next in the TWA case will be the Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, which will be their version of the Addington Doc. 593. We will then be able to make a better comparison between our case and the TWA case. In closing, we wish to reiterate our thanks to our Leonidas, LLC contributors. Your unwavering financial support has stopped USAPA dead in their tracks. Along with the TWA pilots who made their litigation possible, together we are proving that, “might does not make right.”
Sincerely,
Leonidas LLC
