the Victims Rights Law Center today announced that attorneys from the
firm working pro bono secured complete dismissal of civil claims against
their clients from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. The case, Neil
Benoit v. Amanda Frederickson et al., involved the defense of a rape
victim and her parents from a lawsuit by the alleged rapist.
In July of 2002, Amanda Frederickson (then a minor), with her parents,
reported to the police that she had been raped by a neighbor. The police
investigated and later arrested Benoit. As the criminal case prepared to
go to court, Frederickson decided not to testify due to her fear of
confronting her alleged attacker, and the charges were dismissed. Years
later, in 2005, Neil Benoit filed a civil lawsuit against Amanda and her
parents for a variety of claims, including defamation, malicious
prosecution and false imprisonment.
"This case was a nightmare for Amanda and for her parents," said Krista
Green Pratt, a partner in Seyfarth Shaw's Boston office and lead counsel
on the case. "The man against whom they filed criminal assault charges
years ago, in 2002, came back to attack them via a lawsuit based
entirely on their protected activity. The Anti-SLAPP statute protects
citizens who petition the government, which includes filing a police
report. With this decision, victims of crimes can rest assured that they
can file a police report against their attackers without fear of
retaliation via the courts."
In response to the lawsuit, the Fredericksons turned to the Victims
Rights Law Center, which sought help from a team of Seyfarth Shaw pro
bono attorneys l ed by Krista Green Pratt. Pratt promptly moved to
dismiss the case under the Massachusetts anti-SLAPP statute. Benoit
opposed the motion, accusing Frederickson of lying about the rape and
arguing that she had no reasonable basis for her petitioning activity.
The trial court judge refused to grant the Fredericksons' special motion
to dismiss on the basis that Amanda Frederickson's petitioning activity
may not have been "legitimate" (a requirement not found in the statute
or case law) if there was a chance that she had lied. The Appeals Court
refused to entertain the Fredericksons' appeal, citing the pendency of
counterclaims filed by the Fredericksons.
Arguing that anti-SLAPP movants should not have to choose between their
right to bring compulsory counterclaims--which would otherwise be
waived--and their right to seek interlocutory appeal as guaranteed by the
statute, the Fredericksons took their case to the Supreme Judicial Court
(SJC). Last week, the SJC held that interlocutory appeal is available to
anti-SLAPP movants regardless of whether counterclaims are pending.
Moreover, the SJC agreed that both Amanda and her parents engaged in
protected petitioning activity by reporting the rape to the https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_attorney/ police. The
SJC found that Amanda's police report had a reasonable basis in fact and
law.
"Many rapes go unreported," said Lydia Watts, Executive Director of
Victims Rights Law Center. "Many victims are young, too many are minors.
At the very least, they need to feel safe in reporting a crime to the
police, if only to stop abuse or assault, even if the perpetrator is
never prosecuted criminally."
This year, the Boston office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP celebrates a decade of
service to clients and the greater Boston community. In 2008 alone, the
Boston office contributed nearly 6,500 hours of pro bono time worth over
$2 million. Seyfarth Shaw encourages all of the firm's lawyers to devote
time to pro bono legal work, and the firm's contributions have been
recognized through the receipt of numerous awards for pro bono service
across the country.
The VRLC is the first law center--and still only one of a few--in the
country solely dedicated to serving victims of sexual assault. As such,
we serve as a national model and trainer, but all of our direct services
remain focused solely here in the Commonwealth. The mission of the VRLC
is to provide legal representation to victims of rape and sexual assault
to help rebuild their lives, and to promote a national movement
committed to seeking justice for every rape and sexual assault victim.
VRLC's three main programs are to: 1) provide free civil legal services
to victims of sexual assault in Massachusetts; 2) partner with
educational institutions, law firms, attorneys, legal services
organizations, rape crisis centers, health care providers and others to
a) alert victims to the availability of our services; b) ensure
widespread knowledge of the civil legal rights of victims and c)
leverage pro bono services for victims; and 3) provide national-level
technical assistance and training to service providers on obtaining
civil legal rights for sexual assault victims.
Seyfarth Shaw has over 775 attorneys located in nine offices throughout
the United States including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los
Angeles, New York, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., as
well as Brussels, Belgium. Seyfarth Shaw provides a broad range of legal
services in the areas of labor and employment, employee benefits,
litigation and business services. The firm's practice reflects virtually
every industry and segment of the country's business and social fabric.
Clients include over 300 of the Fortune 500 companies, financial
institutions, newspapers and other media, hotels, health care
organizations, airlines and railroads. The firm also represents a number
of federal, state, and local gove rnmental and educational entities. For
more information, please visit www.seyfarth.com.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20090630005865/en/Seyfarth-Shaw-Pro-Bono-Attorneys-Victims-Rights
No comments:
Post a Comment