November 27, 1998, Attorney Donna Rae Johnson's letter to the Clerk of the Court with copy to Lambros with the following enclosures: (1) DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO AMEND ORDER OF 10/15/98, dated November 13, 1998; (2) Attorney Donna Rae Johnson's letter to Lambros, dated November 13, 1998; (3) Attorney Donna Rae Johnson's letter to Magistrate Judge John M. Mason, dated November 13, 1998; (4) Attorney Donna Rae Johnson's MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF MOTION TO AMEND ORDER DATED 10/15/98, dated November 25, 1998, in LAMBROS vs. FAULKNER, Civil No. 98-1621. Thirteen (13) total pages.


End of page 1


IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE STATE OF MINNESOTA

JOHN GREGORY LAMBROS, #00436-124
USP Leavenworth
PO Box 1000
Leavenworth, Kansas 66048-1000, USA
Web site:
Web site:
http://members.aol.com/BrazilByct
http://adpages.com/usal/brazilct.htm
http://adpages.com/andreaci.htm
http://members.aol.com/LambrosLDF
http://members.aol.com/BraziLien
http://members.aol.com/Lambrosb1 (final digit number 1)
http://www.brazilboycott.org

Plaintiff

vs.

ADM/AJB

ESTATE/WILL/BUSINESS INSURANCE OF DECEASED ATTORNEY CHARLES W. FAULKNER, 2680 Sumac Ridge, St. Paul, Minnesota 55110 USA

ATTORNEY SHEILA REGAN FAULKNER, 2680 Sumac Ridge, St. Paul, Minnesota 55110 USA

FAULKNER & FAULKNER, Attorneys-at-Law, 2680 Sumac Ridge, St. Paul, Minnesota 55110 USA;

JOHN & JANE DOE'S, persons employed by Attorney C.W. Faulkner, Sheila Regan Faulkner and Faulkner & Faulkner in the representation of John Gregory Lambros;

Defendants (Severally and jointly liable).

CIVIL CASE NO.
98-1621 (DSD-JMM)

DEMAND FOR TRIAL BY JURY, Title 28 USC Rule 38 & 39.

COMPANION CASE NO.
U.S. vs. LAMBROS
, Criminal File No. CR-4-89-82(05), District of Minnesota, Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals No. 65 F.3d 698 (1995).

DEFENDANTS MOTION TO AMEND ORDER OF 10/15/98

Comes now the Defendants, through their attorney, and moves the court for an ex parte order amending Paragraph 2 of the Court's Or der of October 15, 1998 to read as follows:

End of page 2

2. All motions to amend the pleadings shall be submitted in a single motion, supported as required by Local Rule 7 of this Court, to be served and filed no later than December 1, 1998. Defendants shall respond by December 15, 1998.

Dated: November 13, 1998

Signed:
Donna Rae Johnson ID# 50945
Attorney for Defendants
700 St. Paul Building
6 West Fifth Street
St. Paul, MN 55102
Phone: (651) 297-6400
FAX: (651) 291-2675

End of page 3


On letterhead of Donna Rae Johnson:

Mr. John Gregory Lambros
Reg. No. 00436-124 USP Leavenworth
P.O. Box 1000 Leavenworth, Kansas 66048-1000

Re: Lambros v. Faulkner et al

Court File No. 98-1621 (DSD/JMM)

Dear Mr. Lambros:

I apologize for all of the confusion I have caused in this matter. I have now corrected my address with the Clerk of the U.S. District Court, and I will diligently defend this matter in the future. Please accept my apology. The mistake has been solely mine.

I have enclosed copies of the letters and the motion which I directed to the Court. I am requesting the additional time to respond with defense motions because Sheila Faulkner is out of town until after Thanksgiving, and I cannot proceed without information from her.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at the above address.

Respectfully yours,

Signed: Donna Rae Johnson

End of page 4


On letterhead of Donna Rae Johnson:

November 13, 1998

Magistrate Judge John M. Mason
610 Federal Courts Building
316 North Robert Street
St. Paul, MN 55101

Civil Case # 98-1621 ADM/AJB

Dear Judge Mason:

I just received your Order of October 15, 1998 today. The order, along with other pleadings from Mr. Lambros, have been sent to my old office address, and then redirected to places as remote as Illinois. I thought my address had been corrected, since I have regularly handled bankruptcy matters through the Court, but apparently the address list for the bankruptcy court is separate. I apologize for any confusion I have caused. I am sending an apology to Mr. Lambros, as well.

Also, as attorney for the Estate of Charles W. Faulkner, I thought Sheila Faulkner was answering Mr. Lambros' request for admissions separately, and she thought I was preparing the answers. Consequently, they were not answered.

Sheila Faulkner will be out of town until after Thanksgiving. I would ask the Court to amend its order of October 15, 1998, so that the defendants will have additional time to respond to Plaintiff's motion, and prepare its motions. I have included a motion making that request.

Respectfully yours,

Signed: Donna Rae Johnson
cc: Mr. Lambros

End of page 5

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE STATE OF MINNESOTA

JOHN GREGORY LAMBROS, #00436-124
USP Leavenworth
PO Box 1000
Leavenworth, Kansas 66048-1000, USA
Web site:
Web site:
http://members.aol.com/BrazilByct
http://adpages.com/usal/brazilct.htm
http://adpages.com/andreaci.htm
http://members.aol.com/LambrosLDF
http://members.aol.com/BraziLien
http://members.aol.com/Lambrosb1 (final digit number 1)
http://www.brazilboycott.org

Plaintiff

vs.

ESTATE/WILL/BUSINESS INSURANCE OF DECEASED ATTORNEY CHARLES W. FAULKNER, 2680 Sumac Ridge, St. Paul, Minnesota 55110 USA

ATTORNEY SHEILA REGAN FAULKNER, 2680 Sumac Ridge, St. Paul, Minnesota 55110 USA

FAULKNER & FAULKNER, Attorneys-at-Law, 2680 Sumac Ridge, St. Paul, Minnesota 55110 USA;

JOHN & JANE DOE'S, persons employed by Attorney C.W. Faulkner, Sheila Regan Faulkner and Faulkner & Faulkner in the representation of John Gregory Lambros;

Defendant's (Severally and jointly liable).

CIVIL CASE NO.
98-1621 (DSD-JMM)

DEMAND FOR TRIAL BY JURY, Title 28 USC Rule 38 & 39.

COMPANION CASE NO.
U.S. vs. LAMBROS
, Criminal File No. CR-4-89-82(05), District of Minnesota, Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals No. 65 F.3d 698 (1995).

MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF MOTION TO AMEND ORDER OF 10/15/98

FACTS

This has been an extremely difficult and stressful year for Sheila Faulkner. On October 6, 1997, her husband of 22 years, Charles W. Faulkner, died of

End of page 6

complications from surgery for cancer of the tongue, throat and esophagus. ~'or the six months prior thereto, he had been in extreme pain, and she had been assisting him in every way, from providing medications to tube feeding, as well as continuing her active practice as a public defender for Hennepin County. Both Sheila and Charles Faulkner were lawyers, and they did business as Faulkner and Faulkner, attorneys at law, as well as maintaining part time practices in the Hennepin County Public Defenders office. Charles Faulkner was also on the Federal Public Defenders panel of attorneys, and he was the court-appointed attorney for Plaintiff, John Gregory Lambros. Within a month after the death of Charles Faulkner, Sheila Faulkner was forced into litigation over the Estate of Charles W. Faulkner in the Probate Court in Ramsey County, Minnesota, as well as receiving the notice of attempted filing of Plaintiff's commercial lien against Charles W. Faulkner, Sheila Faulkner and Faulkner and Faulkner, attorneys at law, by John Gregory Lambros. Sheila Faulkner was advised by the Ramsey County Attorney's office that the commercial lien was invalid, and therefore, she turned her attention to the claims against the Estate of Charles W. Faulkner.

She asked me to represent her in litigating the claim against the estate. We were friends from church, and both practicing attorneys. I accepted. When she was served with the Plaintiffs complaint on July 17, 1998, she notified the insurance company that had handled the errors and omissions insurance for the firm. They denied responsibility, and she asked me to assist her in that matter, and I wrote to the insurance company, at the same time I asked for an extension to answer the Plaintiff's complaint. I was still actively representing her in the estate matter.

It wasn't until I found the Court's order on my desk on November 13, 1998, that I really began to review the file and recognize my lapse. In Minnesota District Court practice, the address used by counsel on the pleadings is the address used by the

End of page 7

Court for all purposes. Also, as I stated in my affidavit, I regularly received notices from the bankruptcy court, and I didn't realize there was a separate address list for each court. I did receive a notice from the court near the end of September, requesting that I file an address change. It did not come to my attention before being put in the file. I have now taken charge of this file completely, and will allow no more lapses in my responses.

I take full responsibility for the mistakes made. I will fully represent the defendants in this matter.

My request for an extension of time to respond to the Plaintiff's motion is essential to proper representation of the Defendants. It is incumbent upon me to file a motion to amend the answer, as well as to make a motion to extend the time for filing the answers to Plaintiffs request for admissions. There is also a motion to have Sheila Faulkner replaced as Personal Representative of the Estate of Charles W. Faulkner which must be addressed, as well as Interrogatories which were dated October 27, 1998, and which have not been answered within the thirty days required.

The responsibility for these errors is mine.

ARGUMENT

Local Rule 83.5 (a) of the Local Rules of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota requires that attorneys admitted to the bar of the United States District Court must promptly notify the Clerk of Court, in writing, of any change in their name, mailing address, law firm affiliation, and telephone number. This local rule is immediately followed by L.R. 83.6 Attorney Discipline, which sites the many instances in which attorneys can be disciplined for lapses in professional conduct, and the procedures to be used in those instances. Counsel recognizes that the Court has every reason to discipline counsel for her mistakes, but that it is a well recognized principle that the Court does not penalize the party counsel represents for

End of page 8

counsel's shortcomings unless it will cause irreparable damage to the opposing party.

Local Rule 1.3 SANCTIONS, states that failure to comply with a local rule may be sanctioned by any appropriate means needed to protect the parties and the interests of justice. These sanctions include excluding evidence, preventing a witness from testifying, striking of pleadings or papers, refusing oral argument, imposing attorney's fees, or any other appropriate sanction. In this case, Plaintiff has made a motion to accept Defendants failure to file a timely response to his Request for Admissions as admissions. The Court, in Gutting v. Falstaff Drewing Corporation. 710 F.2d 1309 (C.A.8 Mo. 1983), stated that deeming admitted matters at issue in request for admissions is a form of sanction and may be appropriate in certain cases of discovery, citing Fed. Rules Civ. Proc. Rule 36 (a,b) 38 U.S.C.A. However, the court allowed an extension of time to file an answer to the request for admissions, holding that it would be inequitable to deem the requests admitted and penalize her (Mrs. Gutting) because of her attorney's compliance with the rules of professional responsibility. In that case, the attorney withdrew because of a conflict of interests. Although that was a consideration in this case, we rely more on Pickens v. Equitable Life Assurance Society! 413 F.2d 1390 (5th Circ. 1969) where failure to reply to request for admissions is "clearly inadvertent", the policy is "to favor substantial justice over technical contentions". and Hadra v. Herman Blum Consulting Engineers! 74 F.R.D. 113 (N.D. Tex. 1977) where the court held, "the court must strike a balance between the interests of justice and diligence in litigation"

This action was initiated by Plaintiff Lambros on July 17, 1998, when Sheila Faulkner was served with three copies of the Complaint, plus a Request for Admissions, which she initially did not realize was attached to the complaint. She immediately contacted the firm's insurance provider, deeming that the defense of the action would be covered by the insurance which they had paid annually over many years. The insurance company refused representation. The confusion after that was

End of page 9

attributable to counsel's failure to file a change of address with the court, and to confirm the extent of her representation in this matter. Discovery is still in its early stages, and an extension of time to answer the Request for Admissions, as well as the Interrogatories dated October 27, 1998, will not prejudice the Plaintiff, but it will ~substantially create a disservice to the presentation of truth at trial", as held in American Petro. Inc. v. Shurtleff, 159 F.R.d. 35, (D.Minn. 1994) and White Consolidated Industries. Inc. v. Waterhouse, 158 F.R.D. 429 (D.Minn. 1994).

Defendants urge the Court to allow an extension of time to serve and file answers to Plaintiff's Request for Admissions, which are ready for service, and for an extension of time to answer Plaintiff~s interrogatories, which were dated October 27, 1998, and f~rther, to serve motions to amend the answer and respond to Plaintiff's motions. No more delays will be requested, and counsel asks the court to sanction her, and not the defendants, for the confusion of the last sixty days.

Dated: November 25, 1998

Signed:

Donna Rae Johnson ID# 50945
Attorney for Defendants
700 St. Paul Building
6 West Fifth Street
St. Paul, MN 55102
Phone: (651) 297-6400
FAX: (651) 291-2675

End of page 10

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE STATE OF MINNESOTA

JOHN GREGORY LAMBROS, #00436-124
USP Leavenworth
PO Box 1000
Leavenworth, Kansas 66048-1000, USA
Web site:
Web site:
http://members.aol.com/BrazilByct
http://adpages.com/usal/brazilct.htm
http://adpages.com/andreaci.htm
http://members.aol.com/LambrosLDF
http://members.aol.com/BraziLien
http://members.aol.com/Lambrosb1 (final digit number 1)
http://www.brazilboycott.org

Plaintiff

vs.

ESTATE/WILL/BUSINESS INSURANCE OF DECEASED ATTORNEY CHARLES W. FAULKNER, 2680 Sumac Ridge, St. Paul, Minnesota 55110 USA

ATTORNEY SHEILA REGAN FAULKNER, 2680 Sumac Ridge, St. Paul, Minnesota 55110 USA

FAULKNER & FAULKNER, Attorneys-at-Law, 2680 Sumac Ridge, St. Paul, Minnesota 55110 USA;

JOHN & JANE DOE'S, persons employed by Attorney C.W. Faulkner, Sheila Regan Faulkner and Faulkner & Faulkner in the representation of John Gregory Lambros;

Defendant's (Severally and jointly liable).

CIVIL CASE NO.
98-1621 (DSD-JMM)

DEMAND FOR TRIAL BY JURY, Title 28 USC Rule 38 & 39.

COMPANION CASE NO.
U.S. vs. LAMBROS
, Criminal File No. CR-4-89-82(05), District of Minnesota, Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals No. 65 F.3d 698 (1995).

AFFIDAVIT IN SUPPORT OF MOTION TO AMEND ORDER DATED 10/15/98

STATE OF MINNESOTA
COUNTY OF RAMSEY
Donna Rae Johnson, being duly sworn, on oath states as follows:

End of page 11

1. That I am an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Minnesota, registered as Attorney No. 50945.

2. That, although I practice law regularly in the Federal Bankruptcy Courts, I have not handled a civil or criminal case in the Federal Courts, since sometime in the early 1980's.

3. That, at that time, my office address was 300 McColl Building, 36 Jackson Street, St. Paul, Minnesota, 55101. My current address is 700 St. Paul Building, 6 West Fifth Street, St. Paul, Minnesota 55102. I have been in this location for about six years.

4. That I regularly receive mail from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, and I didn't realize that the U.S. District Court had a separate attorney list, and that I had to file a separate change of address with the court. I am now well aware of that fact.

5. That when the Court issued its Order, dated October 15, 1998, it apparently was sent to my old address in the McColl Building, and then forwarded to Illinois. I have enclosed copies of the envelopes which I received all folded together with the October 15, 1998 Order. I have enclosed copies of the envelopes as Exhibits A, B, and C.

6. I actually found the envelope on my desk on November 13th. Since there are approximately thirty attorneys in these offices, all in private practice, occasionally our mail is improperly distributed in the boxes, and we sort through our mail and deliver the improperly distributed mail to the proper attorney. Sometimes, days go by before it gets delivered to the proper person. We are working to correct that diligently in this office.

7. I have also enclosed a copy of the letter which I sent to correct my address in the Clerk's office, which is also dated November 13, 1998.

8. Since I was representing the Estate of Charles W. Faulkner in the State Courts, Sheila Faulkner asked me to handle her controversy with the insurance

End of page 12

asked me to represent her regarding a claim against her husband's estate in the State courts, I agreed. Since I was representing the Estate of Charles W. Faulkner, Sheila Faulkner asked me to handle her controversy with the insurance company, regarding their refusal to accept representation in this action, and I prepared a letter to the insurance company, the motion to extend the time to answer and the answer. When we learned that the insurance company would not represent the defendants in this action, I continued to act as counsel.

9. Although Sheila Faulkner is the Personal Representative of the Estate of Charles W. Faulkner, she was also individually named as a defendant, as was the law firm she partnered with the deceased. There was a question whether there would be any conflict of interest if I represented all the defendants, and I made an assumption that she would be answering the Request for Admissions separately.

10. I was wrong. I urge the Court to allow the Defendants to prepare and serve Answers to the Request for Admissions, and to answer the interrogatories that were received recently. The date on the interrogatories is October 27, 1998. S Faulkner is out of town until December 1, 1998.

11. I apologize for the confusion I have caused. I will be representing all of the defendants in this action. I am the person responsible for any mistakes, and I urge the Court to sanction me, and not the clients, for any errors or omissions. I will not let it happen again.

Further, affiant sayeth naught.

Subscribed and sworn to before me

this 25th day of November, 1998.

Signed by notary: Ann L. Slavik

End of page 13


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For more information write (snail mail) JOHN GREGORY LAMBROS directly at:

JOHN GREGORY LAMBROS
Prisoner No. 00436-124
U. S. Penitentiary Leavenworth
PO Box 1000
Leavenworth, KS 66048-1000
USA

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND ASSISTANCE IN MY BOYCOTT OF BRAZILIAN PRODUCTS.