Lawyers duke it out over post-Hurricane Ike depo

Dallas products liability lawyer Dale Markland understands what it means to be unpopular -- to be criticized, even. In the late 1970s, he was an assistant district attorney and estimates that he put about 1,800 people behind bars. But nothing he’s experienced in the ensuing years prepared him for the rash of criticism he’s endured since a Sept. 26 letter written to him by a lawyer went viral, showing up in countless in-boxes across the country, on gossip blogs like Above The Law and right here on our blog. The letter was written by Jeff Murphrey of Houston’s Tekell, Book, Matthews & Limmer regarding the responsibility for fees and costs following a canceled deposition. And it had all the elements of blogospheric catnip: money, anger, Hurricane Ike, raw sewage and an implied slight on the city of Dallas. Almost immediately, readers responded, on blogs and to Markland personally. He says people across the country have been calling and e-mailing him with their vitriol, as late as yesterday. When he started hearing from firm clients, however, he says he knew he had to do something. Yesterday, he issued a formal response to Murphrey and also posted extensive details – what he calls the “real story” about the issue -- on his firm’s Web site, www.marklandhanley.com. In the statement, Markland praises Dallas and its lawyers and states that he is “proud of my actions related to Mr. Murphrey’s late cancellation of the deposition.” Murphrey had no comment on the matter and says he has not seen the statement or the Web site. Markland says he’s sent the statement and the link to “hundreds of people” -- including personal contacts and also people whose addresses he’s culled from e-mail forward lists attached to the letter -- and has received “unanimous support” from those he’s heard back from. Markland refuses to estimate the value of the time he, his law partner Tara G. Hanley and their office staff have devoted to responding to Murphrey’s letter. “We bill by the hour, so every hour [of our] time is diverted away from revenue generation,” he allows. Yet Markland maintains he is not mad. “I am a lawyer. I am used to people being adverse to me,” he says. “But I am very determined to do what’s within my power to do to tell the story.” The upside to the situation, Markland says, is that he’s now in a better position to understand – and to advise clients on -- the dangers of the Internet age. He says he’d even be interested in representing clients against Internet libel, a practice area he’s never before considered entering. “To me, that’s the worst thing about all this, is people out there passing aspersions on someone’s character and reputation when they don’t know anything about the situation,” he says. “And it’s not just me, this can happen to anyone, this can happen to your next door neighbor or your daughter at school.”
-- Jenny B. Davis