BENTON – Senior U.S. District Judge Phil Gilbert, who called former lawyer Tom Lakin demented and disturbed at a sentencing hearing in 2008, will preside over a civil suit Lakin filed against Geico.
Gilbert denied Lakin’s motion to remand the suit to Madison County on March 25.
Rodney Caffey of Godfrey filed the suit in Madison County last November, hiding his client’s identity behind the name John Doe.
The plaintiff sought $50,000 for a car crash with an underinsured motorist in 2016.
He also sought statutory damages for unreasonable and vexatious delay in settling his claim plus attorney fees and costs.
Geico removed the suit to district court in December, asserting diverse citizenship and arguing that the claim exceeded the $75,000 minimum for federal jurisdiction.
A footnote identified Lowell T. Lakin as holder of the policy at issue.
Gilbert ordered Caffey to explain the need for anonymity, advising him that concealing a name impedes public access to the facts of a case.
Caffey amended the complaint and identified his client in January.
He moved to remand it to Madison County and attached an affidavit from Lakin stating his claim didn’t exceed $74,000.
Geico opposed Madison County jurisdiction and proposed that if Gilbert granted it, he should limit damages there to $74,000.
Caffey stipulated in February that maximum statutory damages including his fees were $60,000.
He wrote that he anticipated a binding stipulation with Geico.
That didn’t matter to Gilbert, who found the amount in controversy depended on the complaint at the time of removal.
Gilbert also found events after removal don’t negate establishment of a jurisdictionally sufficient amount at the time of removal.
“This, even if a plaintiff makes an irrevocable promise after the case is removed not to accept more than the jurisdictional minimum, the court would not be justified in remanding the case if federal jurisdiction existed at the time of removal,” Gilbert wrote.
“Furthermore, limiting a prayer for relief does not lower the amount in controversy because, under both federal and Illinois rules, a prayer for relief does not limit the awardable relief.
“As of Nov. 1, 2019, it was clear that more than $75,000 was in issue exclusive of interest and costs.”
He wrote that Lakin’s original complaint asserted that Geico refused to pay $50,000 it owed him, forcing him to sue. He also wrote that statute allows an award of the lowest amount among 60 percent of a jury award, the excess of an award over an insurer’s settlement offer, or $60,000.
He wrote that 60 percent of a $50,000 award would be $30,000.
The excess of award over settlement offer was likely to be $50,000, “the difference between the potential under insured motorist coverage amount and the goose egg Lakin claims Geico offered before the lawsuit,” Gilbert wrote.
Thus, he wrote, the maximum potential statutory award was $30,000.
He added that to the $50,000 Lakin sought in unpaid coverage and found the amount in controversy was $80,000 plus unspecified attorney fees.
He set bench trial next February.
Lakin once led the most successful injury firm in Madison County.
He earned reputations for political power and for lavish entertainment in his home at 287 Oakley Place in East Alton.
In 2006, Alton lawyer Edward Unsell filed a Mary Doe civil suit claiming Lakin sexually abused children.
In 2007, grand jurors in district court indicted Lakin on charges of transporting minors across state lines with intent to engage in illicit sex.
They also indicted him on drug distribution charges.
They classified his home as a drug involved premises, and issued a forfeiture indictment against it.
In 2008, Lakin agreed to plead guilty on drug charges and prosecutors agreed to dismiss charges that he illicitly transported minors.
He agreed to serve 63 to 78 months.
He agreed to pay $325,000 in lieu of forfeiting the home, and to make restitution of $180,000 to Crime Victims’ Advocacy Center in St. Louis.
The agreement included an unusual provision that would bind Gilbert.
At a hearing he said, “This court is not going to buy into an agreement operating in a vacuum and is not going to buy a pig in a poke.”
Gilbert said he thought victims would receive restitution, and he asked how restitution related to the agreement since it would dismiss sex related counts.
He said he had an Illinois resident, charged with crimes in Illinois, whose victims resided in Illinois, donating $180,000 to a Missouri charity.
He said something was wrong with the picture and he wasn’t buying into it. He said he didn’t have the benefit of a presentence report from the probation office and never sentenced anyone in a drug case without one.
Lakin and prosecutors submitted a second agreement six months later, fixing the sentence at six years.
Lakin pleaded guilty in September 2008, and appeared for sentencing in October.
Gilbert said, “I don’t know what words are available in the English language that would convey to you my utter disgust and contempt for your conduct.
“For some reason you have evolved into a demented, disturbed, and pathetic individual.
“You had the world by the tail and now are a prime example of how power and influence can destroy an individual as it did you.”
He told Lakin he destroyed the innocence of youthful victims and impacted their lives and the lives of their families forever.
He told him he was raised from humble beginnings, and through hard work and dedication became a very successful attorney who lived a Hollywood lifestyle.
“Maybe it was the seedier side of Hollywood lifestyle with drugs and sex and maybe the fear of getting old that was your downfall,” Gilbert said.
“You couldn’t handle the success and power you achieved and absorbed yourself in your own self importance and belief that you are above the law.”