Author's $2.3M liePublisher to pay readers duped by 'Little Pieces'BY THOMAS ZAMBITO Friday, May 18th 2007, 4:00 AM Random House has agreed to pay that much to readers who bought the "memoir" before Jan. 26, 2006, around the time author James Frey was forced to confess he'd fibbed about parts of his drug- and alcohol-fueled life, including an 87-day stint behind bars. But if most of the book's readers line up for a refund, the average payout will shrink substantially. Only the $2.35 million will be divvied up by readers of the book whose sales spiked to 3 million after Oprah Winfrey raved about its redemptive message on her talk show in the fall of 2005. The preliminary settlement approved this week by Manhattan Federal Judge Richard Holwell will resolve several lawsuits filed across the country by readers of Frey's memoir. Notices will appear in several publications over the coming months. Readers will be directed to the amlpsettlement.com Web site, where they can submit their claim. They can also obtain a claim form by calling (866) 459-3651. Claims must be received by Oct. 1, and a final hearing will take place Nov. 2. Objections have to be made by Aug. 23. Readers who don't want to join the settlement can opt out and pursue their own claim. NOTE: Chicago attorney Thomas A. Zimmerman, Jr., of the Zimmerman Law Offices, P.C., is co-class counsel for the plaintiff's class in this litigation and nationwide settlement. |
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Mother Loses Child Custody and Visitation — Following a lengthy trial to determine the best interests of the children, a mother going through a divorce lost custody of her children to her husband and she was also denied any visitation with her minor children. We were retained after the trial to appeal the decision. We successfully appealed the trial court's decision denying visitation by demonstrating that visitation would not endanger the children's physical, mental, moral or emotional health, and the appellate court ordered the trial court to fashion appropriate visitation. In this matter, we also filed a petition for a writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court on the issue of whether a state court rule violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment where the rule precludes the court from exercising its discretion, in the interest of fundamental fairness, to allow an untimely appeal from a court order terminating a parent's liberty interest to the care and custody of her children.
