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Barrett v. Freise11/24/2003
en to make a serious effort to settle or mediate that claim, before consummating a settlement with the drunk driver. JoLynn agreed that this would be the more prudent course. American States committed to keep its policy limits settlement offer open while these matters were dealt with.
JoLynn Files for Divorce
On August 30, 1996, JoLynn filed a petition for dissolution of the Barrett marriage, through her attorney, Rita Love. In mid-September 1996, Freise and Jeff's brother, John Barrett, Jr., had a lengthy telephone conversation about the personal injury case, during which John was informed of the UIM settlement, the $500,000 commitment from American States, and the one-third contingency agreement. Freise also explained the joint and several liability issue and why he felt that it was in everyone's best interest to defer consummating the settlement with American States. John told Freise that he planned to contact attorney Helga Kahr about representing Jeff in the marital dissolution case. Freise told John that although Jeff and JoLynn would have different interests in how the personal injury recovery ultimately would be split up, he wished to continue working on the personal injury case, if that were to be agreeable with the lawyers in the dissolution action. Freise explained that he would seek to secure the most money possible for Jeff and JoLynn, and that their respective marital dissolution attorneys could then tackle the question of ultimate division of the proceeds.
On September 16, 1996, Kahr notified Freise that she was representing Jeff in the dissolution action. On September 20, 1996, Freise received a fax indicating that Jeff had authorized Kahr and attorney Joseph Chalverus to look at Freise's files in the personal injury matter. On September 23, 1996, Kahr was told that she was free to come see the records whenever she wished.
On September 30, 1996, Freise wrote a joint letter to Kahr and Love, describing the Pemco settlement, the American States $500,000 offer, and the case against the tavern. He noted that they had held off on settling with American States, and stated:
Although $500,000 sounds like a lot of money, it does not go very far in a situation like this. All of us will have to work efficiently to maximize both private and public benefits for the best interests of Jeff, JoLynn and their two daughters. I look forward to working with each of you and hope that this can be resolved amicably. My files are open to both of you. If you wish to examine all or parts of them, please contact Cindy McWilliams and arrange a time.
Clerk's Papers at 1696. An assistant of Kahr reviewed the files at Freise's office on October 3, 1996.
On October 25, 1996, Freise again wrote Kahr and Love, stating: When I last wrote to each of you, I suggested a group meeting. Does anyone have any interest in this? Will it be possible for you to agree on how the $500,000.00 insurance limits from Mr. Maher should be divided and/or structured? Is there any chance of an agreement in the near future? Do we want to require Mr. Maher to pay something out of his own pocket in the years to come? Do we want to settle now, or do we want to wait to see how the tavern claim does? It would be helpful to us to know where you stand, so that we can proceed accordingly. Additional legal research has {led} me to the conclusion that it may not be wise to settle with the driver until we at least attempt to resolve the liquor server claim.
Clerk's Papers at 1269. In the same letter, Freise advised Kahr and Love that an expert medical witness had reviewed information regarding the drunk driver and concluded that he had likely consumed three pitcher
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