On the Record

I expected the court’s decision in an amateur artist’s federal lawsuit over the Baltimore Ravens’ original logo to contain legal underpinnings. And U.S. District Court Judge Marvin J. Garbis provided that, analyzing each element of the fair use doctrine to determine Frederick E. Bouchat’s claim of copyright infringement was unfounded

What I did not expect was an illustrated history of professional football in Baltimore. The opinion includes logos of the franchises that ultimately became the Colts, the interregnum franchises before the Ravens and finally the return of the NFL to Charm City — and in the process subtly demonstrating the fair use doctrine.

In an interview, Garbis, a lifelong Baltimorean and football fan, said he personally researched the Baltimore football family tree.

“When you start, you get caught up in it,” he said. “I could have gone on forever.”

To recap: The first incarnation of the Baltimore Colts (1947-1950) played in the All-America Football Conference. The team was the Miami Seahawks in the AAFC’s inaugural season, 1946, and arrived in Baltimore one year later with its green and gray uniforms. The AAFC folded in 1949, and the Colts played one year in the NFL before folding.

The second, more familiar Colts, arrived for the 1953 season. Though disputed by NFL historians (as footnoted in the opinion), Garbis traces the team to the founding of the National Football League, beginning with the Dayton Triangles (1920) who begat the Brooklyn Tigers (1930), who begat the Boston Yanks (1945), who begat the New York Bulldogs (1949), who begat the New York Yanks (1950) who begat the Dallas Texans (1952).

We all know what happened in 1984. The following year, Baltimore inherited a United States Football League franchise from Philadelphia. The Baltimore Stars folded with the league in 1986.

A proposed NFL expansion team called the Baltimore Bombers “never got off the ground,” Garbis wryly noted in his opinion. The city was awarded a Canadian Football League franchise in 1993. Originally named the Colts, the team went nameless for its inaugural 1994 season after being threatened with a lawsuit from the NFL. It became the Stallions for the 1995 season and went on to win the 83rd Grey Cup, the CFL’s version of the Super Bowl (Bonus points to anyone who can name the game’s MVP.)

The Stallions galloped to Montreal following the season, however, because the Cleveland Browns announced plans in November 1995 to relocate to Baltimore, and the Ravens were born.

Garbis, incidentally, became a Ravens season-ticket holder. Asked to forecast the rest of the season, the judge predicted the Ravens going 3-2 in their final five games to finish 10-6 — good enough for a playoff berth.

DANNY JACOBS, Legal Affairs Writer

The good news is that Baltimore is not, when compared to other U.S. cities in a new report, any more crime-ridden than it was last year. The bad news is it’s not any better, either.

The city ranks 12th nationwide in CQ Press’ City Crime Rankings 2008-2009. It had the same ranking in last year’s version of the annual report (as well as in 2006, interestingly enough). New Orleans unseated Detroit for the top spot this year. Ramapo, N.Y. — which I assure you is a real place — came in safest at 385.

Much as every other “Best Of” or “Worst Of” list that’s ever appeared in print, the new rankings are sure to draw criticism due to the report’s methodology — which crime stats to use, which population figures to crunch, etc.

And while a cursory glance leads me to believe that — whatever the numbers that were used — the results make sense, I am surprised at Orlando’s 18th-place showing. I grew up in and around the area and can’t say I ever noticed an especially high level of crime. Of course it’s Florida, so once every couple of months something absolutely insane will happen and the local TV stations will cover the crime like was the first moon landing.

If you have some time, take a look at the list and let us know what stands out to you. (Washington, D.C. was 21 and Philadelphia was 22, for the record).

JOE BACCHUS, Web Specialist

What is it with Montgomery County residents and their misadventures buying used luxury cars?

First it was the case of the mongrel Mercedes.

Now it’s the Bentley Continental GT for which a Burtonsville man paid $148,195.82, only to find out it had, allegedly, been “previously repainted, and possibly previously repaired” in violation of the terms of the sale.

Emmanuel Bailey, a former Fannie Mae executive and Obama campaign contributor, knew the sleek British coupe he bought in June 2007 from a Boynton Beach, Fla. dealer was used, according to the federal lawsuit he filed last week.

But according to the purchase agreement, Bailey alleges, Exotic Motorcars and Jewelry Inc. “would repurchase the Bentley at Mr. Bailey’s option” if the car, currently at Bailey’s home, was found to have been modified.

Since less than a month after he bought the Bentley, Bailey has unsuccessfully sought a refund. He now claims $222,300 in damages under fraud and breach of contract counts.

Oh, and like Dr. Pepi Schafler, Mr. Bailey knows his way around a courthouse.

Will U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus, who also presided over the “mongrel Mercedes” case, come to Bailey’s rescue like the federal government did for his erstwhile employer or will he dismiss the suit as a frivolous squabble in these hard economic times?

BRENDAN KEARNEY, Legal Affairs Writer

Good afternoon!

*    The Sun had this obituary yesterday for lawyer Simon Walton.

*    An e-discovery blogger gives UM Law credit for offering a course on the topic.

*    The Orthodox Jewish community sees an explosion of sex abuse allegations, the AP reports. (The Baltimore Jewish Times has written several stories about the controversial topic in the past couple of years.)

*    Christmas for criminals — yup, it’s getting near pardoning time again. HT: Above the Law.

*    The WSJ Law Blog links to a WSJ story on the continuing fallout from Nebraska’s ill-considered safe haven law.

*    A law firm consultant writes about what happens to an IOLTA if the bank fails.

CARYN TAMBER, Legal Affairs Writer

Meet Cydné Kimbrough, an activist for transgender women; and read about Friday’s Leadership in Law awards.

In the news, the Attorney Grievance Commission seeks sanctions against a well respected real estate practitioner over a $1,000 error; the Court of Special Appeals reverses a legal malpractice award; and Baltimore County’s new court administrator memorizes the playbook.

In Verdicts & Settlements, a cab driver wins $305,000 from MTA police after an altercation at the airport.

How can the Republican Party reinvent itself? Jack Gohn has a few words of advice.

Louis Kozlakowski, pro bono lawyer for Rebuilding Together, is just as handy with a wrench as a writ.

Plus our weekly law digest, with cases from the state and federal courts.

BARBARA GRZINCIC, Managing Editor/Law

Last month, U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge Paul W. Grimm scolded the handful of attorneys litigating a wage payment collective action in front of him for not cooperating better in the discovery phase of the case.

Because of the length and depth of the opinion (PDF) and the sanctions threatened for future intransigence, attorneys in the case seemed to take Grimm’s words to heart. They even recommended the rest of the federal bar in Maryland do the same.

That was last month.

More recently, attorneys for the plaintiffs — Harford County laundry workers, mostly Latino — wrote a letter (PDF) to Grimm accusing their counterparts, who represent defendants such as Mayflower Textile Services Co. and Argo Enterprises Inc., of further stonewalling and delay tactics. They also have asked to amend their lawsuit in light of recent disclosures.

“The likely addition of new defendants will now result in additional discovery, discovery which could have been initiated months earlier had defendants produced these readily available documents when they should have been produced — or even within a few months of when they should have been produced,” the letter concludes.

Unsurprisingly, the defense lawyers fired back in letters last Monday and Tuesday (PDFs).

Eric Pelletier, who represents Mayflower and associated entities, called the plaintiffs’ letter “self-serving” and said that it “asserts, for the very first time, that Defendants failed to label or categorize their document production.”

“Raising the issue first between counsel, rather than in a ‘gotcha’ fashion before the Court, would have been more productive,” Pelletier wrote, before referencing Grimm’s previous admonishment. “Contrary to the impression that the Court may have otherwise formed, counsel in this case actually ‘get along’ well and have cooperated during this case regarding this discovery dispute.”

I have a sneaking suspicion this latest back-and-forth has done little to alter Grimm’s “impression.”

BRENDAN KEARNEY, Legal Affairs Writer

U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz has been busy recently — so busy that half of his eight opinions posted on the court’s Web site in the past month, including his three most recent, have come in the form of letters rather than formal memoranda.

The former chief federal judge in Baltimore has introduced each decision with some version of this apology:

“My schedule does not permit me to write an extensive opinion. Instead, I will briefly summarize the reasons for my ruling in this letter. Please be assured, however, that I have carefully considered all of the arguments you have made.”

So far as I can tell, while the letters — mostly regarding employment disputes — may be a bit shorter than the average memo and may dispense with the normal volume of citations, they hit the high points in plain and direct language.

What do you think? Is Motz’s trend toward terseness welcome or would you feel shortchanged if your year-old case was dismissed in a couple single-space typed pages?

And if you’re wondering what has prompted Judge Motz to spill less ink, well, he sits on the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation and will preside over a hearing next month in one such case, In re Mutual Funds Investment Litigation. Motz has also had lots of other cases and doesn’t like to “see things stack up,” he said Friday afternoon. But his #1 reason?

“I actually believe in them,” Motz said. “Write for the parties and not for the ages.”

BRENDAN KEARNEY, Legal Affairs Writer

New York writer Twanna Hines hustled and scrapped to become Funky Brown Chick and she’s not about to let some Funky-come-lately take the elevator to her sex-blogging heights.

Last week, Hines sued Yesha Callahan of Odenton, who blogs as Funky Black Chick, alleging trademark infringement. The same day we published a brief on Brown v. Black, Hines posted her own out-of-court 2 cents.

Hines claimed to “support online media” but said she can’t stomach having “put in the hard work to build a house for myself — only to have someone else enter it and attempt to live there as if it was her own.”

A cursory glance at the two dozen (at last count) comments in response to her post shows Funky Brown Chick has backers, some of whom are legally savvy.

Whither Funky Black Chick? Well, her Web site went down Friday afternoon, reemerged earlier this week, and as of this afternoon, is again “Forbidden” — and not in some flirty sex-blogger sense. Has the federal lawsuit changed her “no homo” tune?

BRENDAN KEARNEY, Legal Affairs Writer

Rico Wright is not unlike a lot of people who brag about their accomplishments. But he might be the only one to receive 20 years in jail because of his boasting.

Wright, 25, was sentenced on two counts of aggravated assault yesterday by a judge in Dublin, Ga., for the September 2006 shooting of Chad Blue. Wright was convicted in August. During the trial, he and his mother testified he was home at the time of the shooting.

Prosecutors overcame Wright’s alibi with a CD given to Blue by a friend before the trial started. On a track called “Hitting Licks for a Living,” Blue said, Wright can be heard rapping, “Chad Blue knows how I shoot.”

No word yet on whether Wright shares an agent with Skinny Suge; or whether prosecutors intend to pursue charges against Bob Marley or Eric Clapton for their fatal confrontations with law enforcement back in the ’70s.

DANNY JACOBS, Legal Affairs Writer

I must not watch enough TV, because I just noticed the other day that Saiontz, Kirk & Miles has tweaked its advertisements in a nod to the 21st century. At least one ad now says, “If you have a phone or a computer, you have a lawyer.” (The italics are mine. It’s hard to speak in italics, though I’m sure someone’s done it. Much easier to speak in boldface, I think.)

Apparently, the new ad has been running for at least half a year, says partner Donald Saiontz. He said the change was a spur-of-the-moment thing, decided on the day the new ad was shot.

Saiontz says he doesn’t get the younger generation’s fixation on e-mail rather than phone conversations, but he’s willing to work with it anyway.

“I figure, if Muhammad won’t go to the mountain, the mountain comes to Muhammad, you know?” he said.

He likened the change to what happened when the “If you have a phone, you have a lawyer” ads first starting running. Funny guys would call up and say, “I don’t have a phone. What do I do?”

“After a couple of them, I said, ‘Go to a damn pay phone’,” Saiontz said.

And just for those callers, the firm’s next ad showed someone using a pay phone.

“You get ideas from clients,” he said.

CARYN TAMBER, Legal Affairs Writer