THE SETTLEMENT
Our Side - Amount - $140,000
Here are some details from the Settlement.
From the settlement of $140,000, our Attorney's received: 1/3
Some may feel this is too much, but I say this was not enough for our
attorney's. Together, (Bruce Gore and Jay Leipham), they put approximately
$170,000 of time in for our case, if we had been paying by the hour,
(at approximately $350.00 an hour). Unfortunately, they were not
paid what they were worth.
...There is a joke -
Three Spirit people are standing in line at the Pearly
Gate waiting to talk to St. Peter about getting into Heaven. The
first, a Pope, says, "I'm a good man, I've influenced millions of people
to live good lives down on earth. I think you will find my name in
The Book of Life."
St. Peter searches the book. "Yes, your name is
in The Book. Do you see that beautiful cottage in that valley?
That's all yours!"
Proudly, the former Pope moves off to the side, but decides
to stand by and see what happens to the other two Spirit people in line.
The second, a Minister, says, "I'm a good man, I've influenced
thousands of people to live good lives down on earth. I think you
will find my name in the Book of Life."
St. Peter searches the book. "Yes, your name is
in The Book. Do you see that wonderful cabin up on that hill?
That's all yours!"
Proudly, the former Minister moves off to the side, but
also decides to stand by to see what happens to the last Spirit person
in line.
The last Spirit, a lawyer, says, "I'm a good man, I was
a lawyer down on earth, but I think you will find my name in the Book of
Life."
Smiling, and with some laughter in his voice, St. Peter
said, "Okay, ...Wait, wait! Your name IS in The Book of Life!!!"
At that moment the Angels begin singing "Hallelujah, Hallelujah" and hovered
over the Spirit lawyer.
St. Peter says, "Do you see that Golden Castle up on the
top of that Mountain? That's yours!!!" At that moment the Angels
picked up the Spirit lawyer and took him up to his castle on the Mountain
top.
Dismayed, the Spirit Pope and Minister came running over
to St. Peter, asking him, "Why? Why would a lawyer, of all the earthly
dredges of society, get a Castle on the Mountain, and we only get a cottage
and cabin?"
St. Peter replied, "Well, you know how hard it is to find
a good lawyer!"
The Lawsuit costs: about 1/3 of the Settlement
NOTE: Although we had attempted to find
an attorney to represent Jared before he died, it wasn't until Jared took
his life that we were able to obtain a lawyer. Lawyers seem to be naturally
afraid of School Districts - maybe they find it hard to take on such a
large bureaucracy, or maybe they don't feel a bullied child is worth their
time unless the parents are rich enough to pay them well. But, parents
who are wealthy rarely have to hire attorneys for their children in a bullying
matter. Schools know better than allow a rich child to be bullied.
They (schools) wouldn't want to offend their biggest contributor or Bond
or Levy Cheerleaders.
Our first visit to Richter-Wimberley Law Firm in Spokane Washington was
in October 1998, less than a month after Jared died. Over the last
4 years there have been costs for various expenses, including, interrogatories,
taking depositions, phone costs, mailing costs, flights, meals, and hotels.
Our law firm has been financially tight and careful with every penny spent,
after all, they paid the upfront costs, as we only subsidized with a small
monthly payment. Over the 4 years, those out of pocket payments for
us totaled almost $12,000.
Our end amount of the settlement: a little over 1/3 of the Settlement
When all is said and done, we can't and will not complain about the
money we receive in closing this lawsuit against the Pasco School District.
With this settlement, we won our case. My husband is happy it's over
and I believe I will come to terms with it's finality. We can now
go on healing our lives from losing our son, Jared. We won't have
to go through the stress of a trial, nor watch our friends sit nervously
testifying in a trial, as no one can be comfortable doing that. And,
most of all, we won't have to worry about appeals, and more strain on our
wallets trying to get the School District to take responsibility for what
they did to our son.
Their Side - What it cost the Pasco School District
- Your tax dollars at work.
I'll only be able to do some guesswork, but here is my estimate:
$140,000 to settle the case with us, plus,
$200,000 for two attorneys on the clock, paid by their time spent on
the case, plus,
$ 75,000 for expenses (see above).
$415,000 total estimate.
This is a low estimate, as school districts are run by
a government type mentality with tax dollars. Remember how much it
cost for a hammer at the Pentagon? As a former member of the Pasco
School Board, I have seen a lot of wasted spending within this district,
and I'm sure it's much the same with all school districts.
What this COULD of cost the Pasco School District -
Your tax dollars wasted.
THE REST OF THE STORY
HEAR JARED'S VOICE - PLAY
- From an interview with Pasco School District investagators concerning
the assault. This is a recording of a recording and it isn't real
clear, but worth the download effort. Jared had a real mellow voice.
Note: If you have a slow load wav, wait for it to load entirely and then
play again from the start. 5 minutes long
