Correction On Facts

*** UPDATE *** COURT OF APPEALS REPUBLISHED THE DECISION TO CORRECT OUR FACTUAL CORRECTIONS BELOW!  click here for link

After reading the Appeals decision, while we are thrilled that we beat all odds and got the decision overturned, one thing that really stood out to myself and Casey was where the court wrote that I never responded to any settlement offers, and that my conduct in the trial rose to the level of a $100,000 fee award.  Here's some reasons why:

1. Judge Juhas made a determination that our settlement offer was reasonable, whereas Marci's was "totally unreasonable".  That is not conducive to settlement when your settlement offer is 5x over what the court found. 
2. Marci filed a divorce suit in Canada, seeking property division and support, and soon after being turned away for support in Los Angeles, she went to Canada.  This is commonly known as "forum shopping", and the Canadian court sanctioned her for this action.
3. Barbara Hammers, according to sworn testimony, told a witness that her settlement strategy was to "ask for the moon".  This pressures the other party into an unfair settlement, and is confrontational.  Hammers then told the witness if "Gary wanted to do that, the cost would be prohibitive, because 'the person with the most money pays all the fees in a divorce."
4. Marci claimed an ownership interest in my invention, "The Lightsphere" because years before the Lightsphere was invented, I fashioned tissues into the shape of a Coleman Lantern, and that was the basis for a multimillion-dollar settlement.
5. Marci sought "permanent spousal support" of $10,000 a month, after we were divorced, and despite the fact that she left a well-paying ($60,000 a year) job to move to Seattle to live with a man she had met on the internet.
6. Marci Kington's expert witness Donald J. Miod testified in court that his analysis for the domain name garyfong.com was $1.8 million dollars, because we were one of the pioneers of website traffic. (The judge ruled Miod's opinion was "flawed in many respects" and ruled that the website was worth less than $5,000)
7. I believe the testimony from Pictage's counsel Josh Baker, of O'Melveny & Myers, speaks for itself regarding the conduct of Marci (who was represented at the time by Barbara K. Hammers) in a motion to compel a witness.
8. Attorney Barbara K. Hammers and Armine Baltazar filed and argued in court that I should be thrown in jail in contempt for an order that I had paid in full for attorney's fees.  That hearing was thrown out in minutes.
9. Attorney Barbara K. Hammers contacted one of my deposition witnesses to "warn" him that he was being subpoena'd for a deposition should he "plan to try to avoid it".

Those eight instances are expanded to further detail below.

Attorney Casey Olsen

This is a photo of Casey Olsen.  (His website doesn't have any).  I interviewed many attorneys before hiring him.  I used to always insist that they have a great Martindale rating, but lately many of the AV rated lawyers I know dropped their designation.  I asked my friend (who had an AV rating) if that was important, and he said no.  Casey isn't on Martindale.  He has an efficient office that he shares with his dad, and has an excellent staff.  His place isn't fancy, like some of the big Hollywood lawyers that I interviewed, but talking to him, I knew he was our guy.
You can't spend a zillion hours with someone and not get to know them behind the work hours.  Casey fought so hard for me, some of which he didn't bill, because he was fighting for principle.  He took this case home with him every night for years.  When we had lunch the other day with his beautiful wife and daughter, that was the first time I'd seen him relaxed ever since taking my case.  The Fong case haunted him.
Casey is a fifth degree black belt in Jiu Jitsu.  But he is as gentle as a teddy bear.  I've had many attorneys in my lifetime, but none that has fought so hard and tirelessly as Casey.  His bills are fair.  His experience is vast.
I'm glad I met him.

►BARBARA HAMMERS' CRIMINAL CONTEMPT HEARING

This is the official trial transcript of the criminal contempt trial hearing of Marci Kington vs. Gary Fong. Attorneys Barbara K. Hammers and Armine Baltazar of Hammers & Baltazar, LLC.

In this motion, for lawyer Barbara Hammers is arguing to press criminal charges here (with a possible jail sentence) in a contempt order, even though she admitted knowing that the order had been paid in full, 2) she never served the order and 3) there is no debtor's prison in California.

Once attorney Casey Olsen demonstrated that service had not been done, attorney Barbara Hammers then argues that service isn't necessary -

Lawyer Casey Olsen states again for the record that the underlying order had been paid in full, and Lawyer Barbara Hammers agrees:

Debtor's Prison: You cannot be thrown in jail for owing money.  This is in the California State Constitution.  However, Attorney Barbara Hammers still attempts to argue that the court can order a prison sentence (even though the entire amount had been paid!)

She goes on to argue that you do not need to serve a party for the fees order...

Then she represents to the court that, even though service wasn't required, that she did serve me anyway...

The judge wasn't convinced - and ruled that I had not been served by Barbara Hammers, even though she just testified above that she had.

I believe that this case is famous for an attorney losing the appeal for basically failing to file basic forms that are required by the rules of the court.  

In this instance, not only did Barbara Hammers not serve the notice, she got paid in full and then continued to push for a criminal hearing, even though you cannot be incarcerated for attorney or accounting fees!  The court agreed:

It was nice not being put in jail, despite Barbara Hammer's extreme efforts.  I would have been more upset if my life wasn't otherwise so happy.