Author/producer targets Bank of America with a 29-page lawsuit alleging BofA actions triggered a hornet’s nest of litigation and financial collapse

(PR NewsChannel) / July 20, 2011 / PALM BEACH, Fla. 

TJ Fisher

In a 29-page amended complaint filed against Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), author T.J. Fisher blames BofA and its Town of Palm Beach branch operations vice president for snaring her into long-running legal nightmare and financial quagmire. Fisher’s lawsuit, submitted in the 15th Judicial Court in Palm Beach County, is an amended version of court papers first filed on April 13.

The complaint names as defendants BofA and its branch manager in Palm Beach, Bernard Madoff’s former neck of the woods and second home to Donald Trump. Celebrities, blue bloods, royals, tycoons, banking and Wall Street elite, the noble and ignoble alike, populate the tiny cloistered community. Over the years, South Florida has long been home to a colorful cast of characters, and like the tides, scandals roll in regularly.

Fisher’s lawsuit details sloppy multi-million dollar business dealings allegedly improperly conducted at the banking behemoth’s storied island location, two blocks from her home. The web of transactions began with an LLC connected to New Orleans’ Plaza Tower skyscraper, Hurricane Katrina and ex-NFL Ravens’ football player Michael McCrary. Fisher claims BofA’s conduct and oversights entangled her into a toxic tornado of litigation battles with McCrary, complex court proceedings where eight-figure recital figures were tossed about like Kleenex.

Florida litigator Timothy W. Schulz, Esq. spearheads Fisher’s BofA action. Schulz, a former Roy Black protégé and Greenberg Traurig litigation associate, began to shape the case last month when he assumed reins of the looming David and Goliath courtroom battle. With a unique background as a police officer turned criminal defense attorney and forensics expert, turned high-stakes litigator, Schulz’s amended complaint sets the stage for a unique legal showdown against BofA, filled with unusual twists.

“Bank of America intentionally and/or negligently allowed improper bank accounts opened in violation of standard banking protocol and banking laws in anticipation of large deposits of funds,” Schulz says. “My client has been enmeshed into a bizarre legal disaster chain of events, devastated, cannibalized and vilified for years on end.”

“This story is a movie-of-the-week in the making,” pink-Cadillac-driving Fisher adds, speaking of her litigation odyssey. “I’m through with martyrdom. The ending is unwritten. It’s true, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and I like surprise endings. As William Faulkner once wrote, ‘Facts and truth really don’t have much to do with each other.’ I am thankful for this current opportunity to be heard in a court that upholds notions of fair play, substantial justice and due process.”

Court records reflect that Fisher’s case against BofA was assigned to Circuit Court judge the Honorable Thomas H. Barkdull, III. Judge Barkdull has presided over a number of high-profile Palm Beach cases and judicial rulings, including Rush Limbaugh’s painkiller case. Judge Barkdull is the son of the longest-sitting appellate judge in Florida history, the late Judge Thomas H. Barkdull, Jr. — namesake of (Third District) Thomas H. Barkdull, Jr. District Courthouse on Barkdull Way, Miami.

Schulz intends to document how BofA irregularities and improprieties ignited McCrary’s $60-million lawsuit against Fisher in 2007. A Baltimore state court rendered a $33.3-million civil default judgment against Fisher and others in the McCrary litigation. Schulz and legal experts say the judgment was draconian because she and legal counsel were precluded from speaking or participating in the judicial process.

Fisher asserts the BofA suit defines missing puzzle pieces that ignited McCrary’s firestorm of litigation against her. McCrary’s case spawned four years of legal proceedings in 13 separate state, federal and appellate courts in Maryland, Louisiana, Florida and Washington, DC, including filings before the United States Supreme Court. At one point Fisher’s Bourbon Street house and personal possessions were seized in 2009; a court order returned Fisher’s property and McCrary’s default judgment was later overturned. The core case is ongoing.

Fisher’s current literary and film projects include development of her The Plaza Tower Matrix legal-drama storyline for screen adaptation.

“This suit will alter the way people view the perceived status quo of banking industry protocol, at a time when the public expects financial institutions assume their fair share of accountability for corporate decisions, actions and errors,” Schulz says.

Noted international legal counsel for the entertainment industry, Russell Smith, Esq. and Frank Dehn, Esq. (New York, London, Los Angeles, India) of SmithDehn LLP and their legal assistance firm SDD Global Solutions, will assist Schulz in case preparation, as will Fisher’s longtime attorneys in the McCrary litigation, Richard Winelander, Esq. of Baltimore and Al M. Thompson, Jr., Esq. of New Orleans.

Fisher is a member of the Writers Guild of America (WGA), Directors Guild of America (DGA), Producers Guild of America (PGA), Dramatists Guild of America (DG), Authors Guild (AG), National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS), Screen Actors Guild (SAG), Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), and other professional guilds and organizations.

DOWNLOAD AMENDED COMPLAINT:

prnewschannel.com/pdf/AmendCompaint.pdf

DOWNLOAD LEGAL DOCUMENTS

prnewschannel.com/pdf/April13OriginalComplaint.pdf

For more information on TJ Fisher, please visit:

http://www.tjfisher.com/

http://www.tjfisher.net/

MEDIA CONTACT:

Name: Glenn Selig
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RELATED STORY:

https://prnewschannel.com/2011/06/27/florida-attorney-timothy-w-schulz-emerges-as-lead-counsel-in-authors-lawsuit-against-bank-of-america/

Direct link:  https://prnewschannel.com/2011/07/20/authorproducer-targets-bank-of-america-with-a-29-page-lawsuit-alleging-bofa-actions-triggered-a-hornet%e2%80%99s-nest-of-litigation-and-financial-collapse/

SOURCE:  T.J. Fisher


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