It has been obvious for years that our society has grown very prone to lawsuits, and contracts or legal records are heavily laden with complex jargon that can leave a person confused and unsure of what they aredoing. People are more apt to file frivolous lawsuits that still have to be defended. Having a competent, experienced attorney in your corner is the only way to avoid falling prey to the sue-happy elements of society. Just ask any Aspen Lawyer

Some examples:

In 2008, a strip club owner and a stripper were sued by a patron when the dancer swung her leg over the man’s head during an intimate performance and accidently struck him in the eye with her stiletto. The patron wanted $3 million.

Universal Studios was once sued for $15,000 by a woman who purportedly suffered psychological damage and emotional distress because the studio’s haunted house attraction was too scary.

“Fear Factor”, an extreme reality show, had to defend a multi-million dollar suit brought by a man who was grossed out watching contestants eat rats.

In 1991, a Michigan man sued Anheuser-Busch for false advertising claiming that he had drank over $10,000 worth of Budweiser but never realized any romance with beautiful women he claims Budweiser implied in its commercials.

Other than being trivial, what other similarity runs through each of these examples? In each example, a skilled attorney was able to go to court and get the case dismissed.

Lawsuits like these may sound comical, but they are serious matters for business owners. Huge companies have teams of lawyers on the payroll so they are always prepared to defend themselves. The average business, however, does not have the luxury of big capital reserves and attorneys on staff. There are lots of reports of companies having to go out of business after being sued. Many of the small businesses successfully defended themselves, but their representation was incapable of getting the suit dismissed in a timely manner and the legal bills buried the business. The importance of a capable, seasoned trial attorney can often mean more than just winning a case – it can mean a real victory by not losing all of your assets to win a case.

The ability to not get sued in the first place is an area where a good lawyer is so valuable. Lots of quarrels occur over differing perceptions between entities about the interpretation of a complex legal document. The detailed, complicated nature of contemporary legal documents demands an attorney’s eye simply to ensure the signer fully understands what he or she is agreeing to. Rental agreements, sales commitments, loans or credit agreements, real estate and building contracts all contain very specific and detailed clauses and are aspects of the law the vast majority will experience. A skilled lawyer can analyze these documents and protect your best interest. You May Need Services of an Aspen Lawyer: http://www.garfieldhecht.com/

Garfield and Hecht PC are Aspen Attorneys that offer litigation services to clients in Colorado and beyond. As one of the larger Aspen Legal Firms in the area, Garfield and Hecht PC specialize in land law, covering the region from Vail and Avon, Colorado to Glenwood Springs and Rifle Colorado, in addition to Carbondale, Aspen and Snowmass in the Roaring Fork Valley.
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PRESS RELEASE from Aspen Attorneys Garfield and Hecht P.C.

COURT FINDS IN FAVOR OF WESTLB AG IN BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDINGS CONCERNING THE DANCING BEAR DEVELOPMENT IN ASPEN — FORECLOSURE OF DANCING BEAR MAY PROCEED

On May 25, 2011, the Honorable Michael E. Romero, a federal judge with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado, entered a 23-page written Opinion granting WestLB AG’s Motion for Relief from Automatic Stay. WestLB AG is a bank that had provided over $58 million in financing for development and construction of the Dancing Bear, a fractional-unit private residence club in Aspen, Colorado.

The Dancing Bear development consists of a fully constructed building adjacent to Wagner Park in downtown Aspen and a skeleton frame of an unfinished building across the street. The Dancing Bear project was not completed, experienced large cost overruns, as well as difficulty marketing and selling its inventory of fractional units.

After the Dancing Bear entities defaulted on their loans, followed by numerous work-out attempts and agreements to forbear, WestLB commenced foreclosure proceedings in Pitkin County District Court. The Court subsequently appointed a receiver to oversee and manage day-to-day operations of the Dancing Bear project. In 2010, various single-asset real estate entities affiliated with the Dancing Bear project sought protection from its creditors by filing for bankruptcy, which, under federal statute, automatically stayed all other proceedings. As the Debtors in the bankruptcy case, the Dancing Bear entities sought to reorganize and to obtain the upwards of $35 million in additional financing from other sources to complete the project.

Judge Romero’s detailed Opinion concluded that the automatic stay should be lifted so that WestLB can pursue its remedies as a creditor of the Dancing Bear project. The bankruptcy court determined that WestLB would not be “adequately protected” because the Debtors had no feasible plan to ensure repayment to its creditors, the largest of which was WestLB. Specifically, the court found that the Debtors’ proposals “are simply too speculative and too attenuated to comprise a reasonable probability of a successful reorganization within a reasonable time.”

The bankruptcy court’s Opinion is available for public viewing at www.garfieldhecht.com.

Case Judgement: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=18e4XhybcmxB3ULA7eVUr6MlWa1RJRHrzPAJfych_HTCuY5XTuGsO8koijF-n&hl=en_US

Court Opinion: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=1lwr66GVpoFA2Fp8BnUTKR7dA6X-HDL-oAIqbTM58lcwELuAqLcKGkPzZTU3x&hl=en_US

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The firm has offices in Aspen, Avon, Basalt and Glenwood Springs. The firm serves local, regional and national clients, including major corporations and high profile individuals. The firm has a strong transactional legal practice and litigation practice. The litigation practice includes commercial, construction, domestic relations and products liability matters. The transactional practice includes real estate (including representing commercial and residential developers), lending, commercial law, business organizations, municipal and special district law, administrative law (with an emphasis on land use) and landlord/tenant matters.

For more information, contact Garfield and Hecht here.