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| | Widom vs. Stockwell Case To Come Back To Court In January 2013 For Possible Evidentiary Hearing
By Lonce LaMon - December 6, 2012
On Tuesday morning, December 4th 2012, in Department 36 on the fourth floor of the Los Angeles Superior Court’s Stanley Mosk Court House, the case of Richard Widom vs. the Stockwell firm was heard very briefly by Judge Gregory Alarcon at about 9 am.
This case is a highly dramatic story about a 31-year-veteran Partner of Stockwell, Harris, Widom, Woolverton, & Muehl (aka the Stockwell firm), Richard Widom, who was fired from the Stockwell firm in 2009 for allegedly beating and battering his wife, Lisa Kerner, who was also an attorney with the firm.
Richard Widom filed a Complaint against Stockwell alleging he was fired in order that Stockwell could deprive him of his retirement and substantial deferred compensation. Widom is claiming punitive damages. Stockwell filed a Cross-Complaint alleging pecuniary improprieties against Widom along with the allegation of batterings of Lisa Kerner on more than one occasion. This is the case that is currently being heard by Judge Alarcon. There have been numerous and sundry other types of case filings that have taken place as a consequence of the alleged physical abuse of Kerner and the subsequent firing of Widom.
George Woolverton, a senior partner of the Stockwell firm, attended the hearing wearing a dark suit and a white shirt and sporting his usual and customary mustache. He sat on the left side of the court room (from the perspective of facing the judge’s bench) between his two lawyers, Robert Helfing and Jeff Cohon. Richard Widom sat wearing a dark blue suit stuffed in the far corner of the very back row on the opposite side of the small court room from Woolverton. He seemed to be cowering in that corner like a wounded animal. Next to Widom sat his attorneys Stacey McKee Knight and Steve Cochran.
Widom’s lawyers laughed a good deal while the court room sat waiting at least a half an hour after the doors opened for the judge to come to his bench. This was in contrast to the dour look on Widom’s face that appeared to be scowling.
George Woolverton, center and in focus, leaves Stanley Mosk Court House in Downtown L.A. after the hearing on Tuesday morning, December 4th. An insider stated that Woolverton agonized over firing partner and 31-year-veteran Stockwell attorney, Richard Widom, in April of 2009. © Lonce LaMon, all rights reserved.
Judge Alarcon, not yet knowing this case at all since it was transferred just a few months ago from Judge Susan Bryant Deason after Stockwell won a transfer on a Peremptory Challenge, asked for a briefing schedule. He asked the lawyers to pick a date, and the 22nd of January 2013 was chosen for the briefing as well as an evidentiary hearing.
After four rulings by Judge Susan Bryant Deason were overturned by the Court of Appeals, Judge Alarcon has asked to study the rulings and to proceed with what has to happen now in his trial court. One thing that was decided by the Court of Appeals is that it has to be determined if Lisa Kerner waived her attorney-client privilege on certain matters of discovery or if she meant to assert it but did not get the opportunity to do so.
Lisa Kerner alleged that she was beaten a second time by Richard Widom on March 24th 2011 when Widom allegedly broke into her house and announced to her that he was there to “finish the job”. It is alleged that Kerner was unconscious or near-unconscious for two days before she was found by a relative or close friend who went to her home to check on her welfare. Thus, the evidentiary hearing could have one to three witnesses and those witnesses could be Lisa Kerner’s doctor, or surgeon, or Lisa Kerner herself.
But, it is doubtful that Lisa Kerner will testify at this time, as she is allegedly quite disabled and has been unable to function for over three years since the first alleged physical altercation with Richard Widom on March 1st 2009.
Judge Alarcon asked Widom’s attorney, Steve Cochran, how much time he will need: “A couple of hours?” Henceforth, Steve Cochran replied that he will need between a half-an-hour to an hour.
Henceforth, court will reconvene on this case on January 22nd 2013.
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