Simon says: no to settlement
Rase Kenzo (aka Thomas Simon) has rejected settlement with the parties represented by lawyer Frank Taney. The settlement offer involved $2,000USD compensation to each of the six plaintiffs, and $5,000USD in legal fees. It probably doesn't get much cheaper than that, in the USA.
Nevertheless, Kenzo has rejected the settlement, indicating that he thinks it's too much, and besides, he doesn't have the money. Instead, he's opting for a potentially much more expensive court case - though he is trying to find a lawyer who will take the case pro-bono.
Kenzo also mentioned that he's trying to avoid repeating Leatherwood's mistakes (Leatherwood failed to respond to the papers served against him) by responding to the documents himself, but seems to be fixed to make a rather larger, and more classic one.
From what we've seen, trying to explain why the law/rules shouldn't apply to you is rarely a winning strategy. He'd better have something astonishingly good in reserve. It's doubtful though. Kenzo's responses to the New York Times displayed considerable misunderstanding of basic law.
Abraham Lincoln is reported to have once said, "He who represents himself has a fool for a client."
[via Reuters]
