Paperchase writes on XPT:
First I would like to congratulate attorney Jeffrey Douglas, and yet un-named local Florida counsel who as hardcore’s lawyers are going to be figuratively backing up the Brink’s truck to Hardcore’s business. Here are some of my rough estimates, I’ve arbitarily set Douglas’s compensation at $350 an hour though I doubt its much less then that.
Lets see, 50 hours at $350 an hour. $17,500 for "it was a a big misunderstanding, you’re free to go.
150 hours at $350 an hour or $52,000 for takes a plea bargain right before trial after an unsuccessful motion to dismiss
300 hours at $350 an hour for full trial, including jury selection. Say $105,000. Does not count the cost of an appeals lawyer if Max loses at trial.
Lets also assume plane tickets to Florida, hiring outside counsel, expert witnesses, renting accomodations in Florida etc. If I’ve over-estimated the hourly costs that could be up to another $30,000 to $50,000.
…There is one particular "wildcard" which makes Max’s future legal fees hard to predict. Lets suppose his California Lawyer goes to represent him in Florida Federal District Court. (he can move for admission to practice before this court) Most lawyers charge well-to-do clients, and especially corporations for their travel time. So lets say Jeffrey Douglas climbs on a plane at LAX and flies out to Florida. We’ll call this 4 hours, from the time he arrives at the airport to the time he clears baggage at the other airport. Then he is driven to the hotel, and appears the next morning in court. Lets say two hours in court, another hour to travel back to the airport, and four hours to repeat the travel process. So for two hours of court time, there are seven hours of additional travel related time.
So far this is not a problem, attorneys charge for travel because it represents time they could have spent working on another case. However some law firms might charge the client for all additional time their attorney was on the ground in Florida and awake, on the grounds that all of this time is dedicated to this particular case even if they are not directly working on the case or traveling to work on the case. Its under such a billing theory that Attorneys can rack up 20 plus hour days.I know nothing of Mr. Hardcore’s retainer or Mr Douglas’s actual billing practices, however I imagine somewhere along the line, Max is going to himself hear a line that he has himself uttered on the set on occasion."Baby, this is really going to hurt."
Fred emails:
I must admit, I know nothing about how to try an obscenity case. I assume that Max Hardcore/Paul Little won’t deny making/sending the allegedly obscene video to Florida). I also assume he will not argue that his video has serious literary, artistic, scientific or other merit. Does he plan to hang his hat on whether the video offends local community standards? Does he plan to argue entrapment?
What kind of "expert testimony" does one use in an obscenity trial? Does one poll the community to try to prove that something does or does not offend community standards?
What do prosecutors and defense attorneys do during such trials?
Maybe you can get an FSC lawyer to write a blurb on this subject?
BTW, it looks like Mr. Little has a rather nice and expensive home. What kind of mortgage do you suppose is on that house? What do you suppose his net worth is?
I am going to make a prediction. I predict that Mr. Hardcore will become a guest at Club Fed.