Q&A - Bellavia Gentile & Associates, LLP suit against the Treasury

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by srt

I recall being told the judge is expected to rule on the latest motion to dismiss by the government in Sept or Oct. Just another frustration in this whole mess.

Thanks for the update.

I've been tied down with some family obligations but when I get caught up I'll send Len Bellavia an email and ask for an update.

[steve_biegler]

You know, I was really hoping this would get the dealers that could afford to get on board some compensation for what happened, but the longer it drags on it just looks like the same old same old. I go back to the old saying.....99% of the attorneys give the rest a bad name.

[DealerLaw.com]

Now now Steve. A car dealer casting aspersions on a lawyer !! Good thing I am devoted to you guys.
We are waiting for the Court of Appeals to advise us when we should come in for oral argument. As you may recall, the Government lost its motion to dismiss. Then it filed a second motion -- for reconsideration of the denial of the dismissal motion. It lost that one too. The Government appealed and that is still pending. Oral argument should occur very soon. The wheels of justice turn very slowly, but they are turning in our favor so far. We feel good about the likelihood of success on the appeal. Once that happens then we proceed with discovery.

Best,

Len Bellavia
Bellavia Blatt, Esqs.

[The StraightShooter]

I wish you guys the best. I hope the lawsuit succeeds. For those of us that have been completely broken by that process in 2009 no amount of money could get us back what we lost...if anything I just want the info made public. This country needs to know how completely corrupt the Government orchestrated bankruptcy was. Godspeed

[steve_biegler]

Well Len it has been well over 4 years and I do understand that the "wheels turn slow" but there seems to be very little movement or at least very little communication about what is happening.
As far as my feeling about attorneys, my wife has been a legal secretary for the same attorney for over 30 years, the only real job she has ever had. I will say he is one of the "good ones" as I hope you are. I apologize about getting under your skin with the 99% line, but in this day and age, with all the "If you have been hurt in an accident" ambulance chaser ads its hard to get a good feeling about a law firm unless you have had personal experience with them. Now to be fair, with all the BULL****, yes I said bull**** ads being run by dealerships that are just wrong, we deserve what we get too!
Thats why my wife's boss and I always give each other a hard time about our professions, all in good fun of course.
StraightShooter said it perfectly "completely broken" is a description of what most of us small dealerships that were one line stores feel. We do not or did not have the money to jump in to any of the lawsuits that were flying around then, we were small operators that just wanted to make a living and provide a life for our employees and ran our businesses that way. Most of us were not running the BULL**** ads and were looking out for the customer as much as ourselves. If you haven't read Tamara Darvish's book please do. I have not finished mine yet, brings up to many emotions even after almost 5 years.
I will stop now, its 7:23 AM and there is a customer rattling the door, I need to see how I can help him.
PS.....thanks SS you hit it right on the head.

[DealerLaw.com]

I understand that it is easy to judge all lawyers based upon personal injury advertisements. Keep in mind that is a small fraction of our profession. I will say though that I believe products are safer because of the plaintiff's personal injury bar, especially autos.
Back to auto franchise law -- The rejected Chrysler dealer lawsuit against the US Treasury is 2 years old, not 4 years. And the 148 dealers in the case have been kept regularly up to date. Anyone who wishes may attend the oral argument of the appeal this fall in D.C. Thereafter, discovery begins. We will take depositions of all top Administration officials and obtain all documents and e-mails of the Auto Task Force. Although it has been a long time, the truth will come out.

[57years]

Please post the dates of the oral arguements.

[The StraightShooter]

Good luck Len.

[steve_biegler]

Len, just a quick question, is there a statute of limitations that the government is shooting for? In conversation with another dealer that is involved in another action he said the statute of limitations is what the government is holding out for. Any truth to that?

[steve_biegler]

A paragraph from a letter forwarded to me.


Shortly after we filed our brief the United States Supreme Court issued another landmark “takings” decision that we believe helps your case. The Court of Appeals should accept that reasoning and recognize the merits of our position. Unfortunately, this court takes about 18 months to issue decisions. A calendar reveals that to be about the time the statute of limitations for filing claims against the Government can be calculated to expire. That is not a coincidence. So, if you know of any dealers who have not yet joined the litigation, please let them know they risk losing their claims if they do not act soon. Please urge them to contact us without delay.

This is the reason for the question.

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by steve_biegler

A paragraph from a letter forwarded to me.


Shortly after we filed our brief the United States Supreme Court issued another landmark “takings” decision that we believe helps your case. The Court of Appeals should accept that reasoning and recognize the merits of our position. Unfortunately, this court takes about 18 months to issue decisions. A calendar reveals that to be about the time the statute of limitations for filing claims against the Government can be calculated to expire. That is not a coincidence. So, if you know of any dealers who have not yet joined the litigation, please let them know they risk losing their claims if they do not act soon. Please urge them to contact us without delay.

This is the reason for the question.

Thanks for the post - that's an interesting question.

I'm no legal expert, but it was always my understanding that the statute of limitations was just the deadline when a case had to be filed - once the case has been filed the statute of limitations no longer applies.

[DealerLaw.com]

The existing case we filed on behalf of 148 rejected Chrysler dealers is safe from a statute of limitations defense. However, there is no guaranty that other dealers who wish to join will be permitted to join the existing case, in which event we will have to commence an altogether new lawsuit. Any rejected Chrysler dealers interested in suing the Government should contact me as soon as possible to avoid a statute of limitations problem. We have several already, however, we will start a new lawsuit when we have several more. We were notified on Friday that the Circuit Court of Appeals is ready to have oral argument on the Government's appeal of its loss of its dismissal motion. We will know the exact date shortly. Every rejected Chrysler dealer should be in this lawsuit, especially since the Federal judge denied 2 motions to dismiss and indicated in his decisions that he felt the case presented legally sufficient claims of an unconstitutional taking of private property. If interested please email me at LBellavia@DealerLaw.com

[srt]

Tuesday November 5th is the scheduled hearing date in Washington and dealers are welcome to attend.

[57years]

Thanks, I will try and attend!

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by srt

Tuesday November 5th is the scheduled hearing date in Washington and dealers are welcome to attend.

Thanks for the information.

Is this the hearing where the Government will appeal the decision by the judge not to drop the case? (Meaning the Government will try to overcome their earlier loss and use the appeal process to get the case dropped.)

What type of Dealer Testimony will be helpful in keeping this case on track so the impacted dealers will finally have their day in court?