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They once had been close law partners, but now they sat on opposite sides of a court room. In Department 36, the court of the Honorable Gregory Alarcon in Stanley Mosk Superior Court in downtown Los Angeles, Steve Harris, one of the senior partners from the workers’ compensation defense firm of the now named Stockwell, Harris, Woolverton & Muehl, dubbed “The Stockwell Firm”, walked in late and hesitated at the door. Then he saw his old partner, Richard Widom, in the middle of a row of seats on his left. So Steve chose a seat in the far back corner on the right, and then spotted his current partner, George Woolverton, just in front of him in a row with a line of Stockwell attorneys.

It was the morning of March 7th 2013, a recent Thursday. Richard Widom was wearing a tweed grey jacket as he continued to pursue his tort case against Stockwell for allegedly wrongfully terminating him after 30 years with the firm, and most of those years as a partner. His hair looked much greyer than in his last website picture, and he was wearing a hearing aid.

Widom is accused of beating his wife, Lisa Kerner, first on March 1st 2009 and then most brutally on March 21st 2011. Ms. Kerner divorced Widom immediately after the first alleged altercation which took place in their marital home, and whereas she was a prominent attorney with the Stockwell firm with a position as a vice-president, the Stockwell partners after many weeks of deliberation made the decision to fire Widom on April 22nd 2009. The alleged second beating occurred after the Widom-Kerner divorce and allegedly happened when Widom broke into Lisa Kerner’s new home and allegedly told her that he was there to “finish the job”.

Richard Widom

It feels odd, on first thought, the idea of an older man being a wife-beater. However, Steve Harris, who saw Lisa Kerner’s injuries soon after the alleged March 21st 2011 incident, stated to this writer outside the court room this day of March 7th 2013, “She was severely beaten. It was gruesome. I think you’d have to be in a war to get something like that.”

George Woolverton also spoke outside the court room. “It was horrendous,” he expressed about Lisa Kerner’s injuries. Both Harris and Woolverton concurred that Kerner was in the hospital for nine weeks and had brain surgery soon after the March 21st 2011 incident where she was allegedly found in her own home after someone went there on a welfare check when she wouldn’t answer. She was discovered semi-conscious.

Stockwell Partner George Woolverton leaving Stanley Mosk Superior Courthouse at 111 No. Hill Street in Downtown Los Angeles. Copyright Lonce LaMon, all rights reserved.

Richard Widom is accused in the Stockwell cross-complaint of abusing other Stockwell members, both men and women alike. The Stockwell firm gave testimony in their documents of having made settlements with victims of Widom’s abuses. When this writer asked Steve Harris bluntly and directly why it took the firm so long to terminate Richard Widom, who joined the firm in 1978, if such was the case that he was abusive, Harris replied, “He wasn’t always like this. He has had a substantial personality change.”

The clerk, Cher, with long below-the-shoulder length blonde hair, had come forward and announced that the judge wanted the attorneys to do a “Meet and Confer”, thus they were cloistered for quite a while in the jury room. They were conferring about new discovery issues; and some old discovery issues.

The Stockwell firm wants to be able to do some more discovery, specifically they want to depose some of the members of the law firm where Widom most recently worked, which was Brady, Volwerk, Ryder & Caspino. According to George Woolverton, this is a reputable firm that does fine work. Their main office is in Orange, California, but they have six other offices in Los Angeles, San Diego, Concord, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Denver.

The “Brady Firm” employed Richard Widom from early 2012 up until around January 8th 2013. On that day, a member of the Brady Firm wrote to this writer by email. Below is an edited account of that correspondence:

The Brady Firm representative: I work at Brady, Vorwerck. One of the partners just announced that Richard Widom is no longer a part of the firm. He talked about his treatment of people here as the reason he is being let go.

Lonce LaMon, adjustercom: Thank you for letting me know.

Lonce LaMon, adjustercom: That’s exactly what George Woolverton of the Stockwell firm told me. He said that Widom would just yell and scream and verbally abuse people. I asked that same question of Woolverton that you just suggested, “Why did it take your firm so long to get rid of him?”

The Brady Firm representative: I don’t know why. He was here for a year. It was a nightmare. He has a filthy mouth and he is always screaming. We all read your articles and used to say “the same thing happens here”. He told everyone that we would be fired if we complained. We are all so happy that he is leaving.

This writer asked Richard Widom as he sat in his seat in the court room, wearing his grey tweed jacket and striped shirt with white, black, and multiple blue colors if he would be willing to be interviewed. He laughed derisively with a soft huff. I asked if that meant a “no”. And he spoke without even turning his head around that yes, he meant no.

When the attorneys emerged from their “Meet and Confer” in the Jury Room, Judge Alarcon asked, “Any points of agreement?” Jeff Cohon, a Stockwell lawyer replied, “That it’s Thursday…” His meaning was clear.

Jeff Cohon argued that the Stockwell motion for more discovery was very important and would not interfere with the trial date of June 4th 2013. “If we’re able to conduct the discovery, it will not disturb the trial date,” Cohon told the court.

Judge Alarcon frowned and grimaced for the most part throughout Cohon’s argument. Alarcon stated that, “This is the type of case that got to a point… and then these issues seem to be cropping up… “

Alarcon explained his concern for the next judge. He is not going to continue on this case, as this case is being transferred to the new torts unit, specifically to department 91. “I’m trying to get something the next judge can look at,” he said. “I’m concerned about your case going to another judge and that judge not understanding what’s going on… “

Stacey McKee Knight, a gorgeous honey blonde in a blue sculpted suit with patent leather pumps, who is Widom’s attorney, responded, “Discovery they are seeking is overbroad. What particular discovery is going to be ordered and in what fashion? Every time you get into a little bit of discovery it turns into a lot of discovery.”

But Cohon persisted to the judge, “This is limited discovery. These are enormous issues. Significant issues. It’s really important to do. Are there lots of other things we’d like to do? Of course. But this thing is so important. Allow this limited discovery now.”

He was of course talking about allowing Stockwell to seek information from the Brady Firm. Stockwell intends to limit discovery to just the Brady Firm.   But now they have to convince the judge to reopen discovery well after the discovery cut off time, which happened back in 2011.

Jeff Cohon said, “It’s not a lot. It’s going to result in the dismissal of certain claims. We could not have anticipated these before the discovery cut-off time.   He (Widom) procured employment with Brady, Vorwerck. (This discovery will show) whether damages are reduced or contained. It is a due process consideration for us.”

George Woolverton is hopeful that the court will honor Stockwell’s further discovery request. He is optimistic. There will be a new judge at the next hearing.   He hopes his firm will not lose on this issue. But, in summing up the March 7th hearing, Woolverton had to say, “It was, all in all, a good day for us.”