By Christy Scott
The Alpine Sun

     ALPINE — Alpine business owners, and interested community members filled every inch of La Carreta restaurant last Thursday to discuss the recent Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuit threats that have been circulated throughout town.
     Representatives from Lawyers Against Lawsuit Abuse and San Diego Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) were on hand to answers questions and give advice on how to deal with these ADA lawsuits.
“Litigation has become one of the largest industries in the U.S.,” said CALA President, Andy Kotner. “We must work together to stop these predatory lawsuits.”
     “Small business is the backbone of our economy,” she continued. “Our success is going to depend on the involvement of concerned citizens.”
     Kotner continued to say that the lawyers who are spearheading these lawsuits are, “bottom-feeders,” who are in it largely for the money. Speaking directly about Theodore Pinnock, the lawyer who peppered Alpine with demand letters, Kotner said, “His extortion lawsuits and demands are only to line his own pockets.”
     According to Lawyers Against Lawsuit Abuse, Pinnock’s particular law firm has filed more than 2,000 ADA access lawsuits throughout San Diego County.
     “We have filed countless bar complaints,” said David Peters, CEO and general counsel for Lawyers Against Lawsuit Abuse. “We’re not seeing any results because the community has not cried out.”
“Many of you are thinking that, ‘hey, I’ve gotten this compliance letter and this draft lawsuit, should I really be concerned?’ Yes you should be concerned,” Peters said.
     “Twenty-thousand dollars is about what we think it costs these businesses to deal with these lawsuits,” Peters said. After 67 lawsuits were filed against Julian businesses last fall, five owners were forced to close up shop due to the cost of compliance.
     All of the law experts at the Alpine Chamber of Commerce luncheon agreed that town business owners and citizens must band together. In Julian, business owners contracted one access inspector for the whole group, keeping the cost down for everyone. In some cases there are tax breaks available to owners for some of the compliance issues.
     “You need to look at it like a flu epidemic has come to town, and you need to ask yourself, have you had your inoculations?” said Wes Johnson, president of Accessible San Diego, a nonprofit center for disabled travelers. “Have you done those little accessibility improvements?”
     Johnson called the compliance letters a wake-up call to local business owners to deal with problems before the wave of lawsuits that could come to town if they do not comply.
     “You need a community-wide plan to deal with these compliance issues,” he said.
Pat Cannon, president and CEO of the Alpine chamber reached out to business owners, vowing that the chamber would take the leadership role in coordinating the community against the suits. Peters said that any ADA consultant — someone who can review a business’ accommodations and advise the owner on what changes should or can be made — should be contracted through a lawyer.
     Local resident and Viejas ADA specialist Robin Lackie, and her service dog, Buddy, were at the luncheon. Although the group cannot contract her, as she is employed by Viejas, she offered her advice to local business owners. Lackie teaches classes in ADA compliance.
According to Peters, there is no local ADA office for businesses to work with. Peters presented “The ADA Top 40,” a list of simple compliance issues that all business-owners should follow.
     “This is really the inexcusable list,” Peters said. “These are improvements that generally cost less than $100, and they really should be done.”
     In general these include posting simple signs, painting curbs blue, and providing lowered counter surfaces for disabled patrons. To see the entire top 40 list, one may visit Lawyers Against Lawsuit Abuse.
     Double S Feed owner, Kelly Davis, and others in the audience, wondered who is responsible for dealing with compliance issues, the property owner or leaseholder. According to Peters, there is a joint obligation to get together and address the ADA concerns.
     Many of the business owners had questions regarding “grandfather” clauses on their older properties.
     “The grandfathering has nothing to do with these civil rights lawsuits,” said David Peters, CEO and general counsel for Lawyers Against Lawsuit Abuse. “If a civil rights, ADA access suit is filed against a business owner, that all goes out the window, it doesn’t matter how old the building is.”
     The Alpine Chamber of Commerce called a second meeting for business owners, which was held Wednesday evening at Alpine Community Church.
     As of the end of March, more than 30 Alpine businesses received letters demanding compliance and threatening lawsuits. In his letters to area businesses, Pinnock wrote that he had “recently” visited the town and had found it to be generally lax in its compliance with the 15-year-old ADA law.
     In those letters that The Alpine Sun has seen, he demanded payment of $10,500, with the amount to go up if the business fails to fully comply with ADA by March 27. Attached was a lengthy — but as yet un-filed — lawsuit complaint. In it, Pinnock alleged everything from incorrect support bars in restrooms to inadequate parking and ramps, to counters of the wrong height.
     Attorney Denise Visconti, of Littler and Mendelson, provided some general information, with the caveat that every business is different and business owners faced with ADA demands should consult with an attorney or ADA professional.
     The most basic rule-of-thumb in the ADA is that anything offered or available to any non-handicapped person must also be available to a handicapped person.
     “If you provide it for one, you must provide it for all,” Visconti said.

Photo: Lawyers Against Lawsuit Abuse CEO and general counsel David Peters spoke to a roomful of Alpine business-owners and citizens regarding the recent ADA lawsuits circulated around town.

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