The latest sleazy tactics by American Express

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

Case No. 08 CV 3812
Judge Pallmeyer


ANDY MARTIN,

Plaintiff,

vs.

DANIEL AKERSON, et al.,

Defendants.




AFFIDAVIT IN SUPPORT OF
MOTION TO FURTHER STAY PROCEEDING
AND FOR EXTENSION OF TIME

Plaintiff hereby states under penalty of perjury in support of his pending motion:

1. Defendant American Express and its various and divers law firms appear intent on making this Court look silly.

2. Earlier this week, Plaintiff submitted a pending motion to this Court. As if on cue, almost immediately thereafter another law firm for American Express (i.e. not counsel of record in this Court) contacted Plaintiff to make collection demands and to threaten new legal action. While Plaintiff asked new counsel for faxed material, opposing counsel only agreed to mail the material to Plaintiff. His package is apparently in the mail, somewhere. (Plaintiff is currently producing a movie so he is on the road.)

3. American Express’ latest law firm claims to be “Mitchell & Kay, 710 Penn Plaza 15th Floor, New York, NY 10001.” For a brief search of that law firm’s reputation and professional practices, see attached. The company or “law firm” apparently operates under false pretenses. Another lawsuit? Could be.

4. Giving this Court the benefit of the doubt, the Court may have erroneously believed that its “order” last October would be the final word on the dispute between the parties. Obviously that was not the case. American express is paying "big firm" litigation fees to needy attorneys to aggressively pursue Plaintiff and to inflict damage on his credit, as well as threatening new litigation. Just as aggressively Plaintiff is defending himself.

5. Thus, the claim by the esteemed local law firm (Greenberg) for American Express that the law firm wishes to “rely” on this Court’s prior ruling to harass and pursue the Plaintiff while the Plaintiff is barred (enjoined) from defending himself and counterattacking, is frivolous. Both parties have equal rights to attack and defend. Common sense, let alone the law, mandates no less.

6. The Court can now see why American Express counsel is wasting this Court’s time with requests for relief that are contradicted by the firm’s own litigation strategy in continuing to attack Plaintiff. This Court should allow the state court to proceed, and deny American Express any prospective relief in this forum.

7. All of the current infighting arises after this Court's October ruling and thus neither res judicata nor collateral estoppel can apply to new actions. Montana v. U.S., 440 U.S. 147, 99 S.Ct. 970 (1979)

8. In law school, they teach that those seeking equity must come with “clean hands.” A party that is attacking (AmEx) and seeking an equitable remedy from this Court hardly comes before the Court with clean hands when it wants the Court to enjoin the Plaintiff herein from defending himself against AmEx’s continuing predatory behavior.

9. Coda: This litigation has been going on for almost a year. The undisputed fact is that the controversy was triggered by an AmEx customer service rep being abusive to a substantial customer who was alleged to be behind $20 on a bill. The Court can now glean from the disorganized response of AmEx law firms that AmEx’s abysmal customer service extends to pathetic litigation management as well. It is time for this Court to tell American Express to “leave home without it” and leave this Court alone. Otherwise, the Court risks looking as inept and biased as AmEx counsel.

Executed April 23, 2009

I certify the foregoing is true under penalty of perjury, 28 U.S.C. § 1746.




Respectfully submitted,


ANDY MARTIN
P.O. Box 1851
New York, NY 10150-1851
Tel. (866) 706-2639
Fax (866) 707-2639
E-mail (text only):
AndyMart20@aol.com

with courtesy copy to:

Suite 4406
30 E. Huron Street
Chicago, IL 60611-4723

Certificate of service

I certify I have served counsel for the defendants, Ruth Bahe-Jachna, Greenberg, Traurig, 77 W. Wacker Dr., Suite 2500, Chicago, IL 60601 by fax to (312) 456-8435 on April 23, 2009.



ANDY MARTIN