Kirlin's fantasy house

Suzy Kirlin says in the Camera:

"Several neighbors nearby held a protest of what they called a "land grab" after a judge ruled in McLean and Stevens' favor. Susie Kirlin says she thinks McLean and Stevens are willing to strike a deal to quell the public backlash surrounding the case, according to the report in the Daily Camera."

Susie and her rich MiG pilot husband are truly high if they think approaching settlement negotiations with this attitude will get them anything. The Kirlin's position going into settlement is really weak, and going into settlement negotiations with a pompous attitude that both of these spoiled brats have is unlikely to get them anywhere.

First, the Kirlin's should know that their chances on appeal are minimal, very few civil cases are overturned on appeal. Moreover, the Kirlin's have no legal arguments in their favor. The issues that the bloggers care about are mainly bs, and were never raised in the trial proceedings, so they can't be raised on appeal. The Kirlin's are really only complaining about factual issues. But these cannot be overturned on appeal. Remember, the judge found the Kirlin's to be liars.

Second, the public backlash against McLean and Stevens is minimal. Bloggers on the Daily Camera web page are not exactly reflective of community attitudes, and people of substance in this town really don't give a hoot. The bloggers are the same people over and over again, and the lazy Daily Camera reporters have made no effort to verify the fact that McLean and Stevens reputation in the community really has not been hurt at all. As reported earlier, most of those who are blogging or protesting are doing so because of various child custody disputes they have with the Courts. If you view the video of protesters, you are not viewing a video of community leaders or other people of substance in the community. You are just viewing a MiG pilot and his loony friends. Most people don't shout down the neighbors at protests, so the protestors have proven to be on the fringe. If anything Stevens is over-reacting to the supposed community backlash and she should just chill. In any event, this is not going to be a reason to settle.

Third, the Kirlin's will have to post an appeal bond. While these rich MiG pilots may be able to afford it, it is a real burden to have to put down an appeal bond prior to filing an appeal. McLean know this, and the incentive to negotiate prior to the appeal being filed will be minimal.

Fourth, its pretty clear the Kirlin's are lying about who offered five feet. Its clear that they were offered to settle for five feet, and now conveniently have forgotten that it was they who rejected the offer. This will not put the other side in the mood to settle. Remember the judge found the Kirlin's to be liars, so they are probably lying about this too.

So given all of this, the incentive to settle by McLean and Stevens is minimal at best. However, McLean is about a straight shooter as one can get. So my bet is that he does settle for the five feet offer, though if he is smart, he might require a public apology from the Kirlin's, oh, and attorney fees.