Posted on 06/03/2015 6:50:02 AM PDT by nikos1121
Alan Dershowitz, the Harvard Law School professor emeritus known as a zealous civil liberties advocate, is suing TD Garden nearly three years after a slip and fall in an arena bathroom during a Celtics game that he blamed on a depleted supply of paper towels near the sinks.
“The bathroom at this time — and plaintiff believes for at least 60 minutes before his entry into the restroom — had no paper towels to allow male patrons to dry their hands post washing of them,” according to a complaint filed in Suffolk Superior Court on Friday. “This dangerous condition allowed water from the recently washed hands of each of the myriad bathroom users to drip or be ‘shaken’ onto the floor, negligently creating a hazardous situation for all users.”
A spokeswoman for the Garden declined to comment on the lawsuit.
In a brief phone interview Tuesday, Dershowitz, a Celtics season-ticket holder since 1965, said he did not want to sue the Garden. But with no agreement in place and a three-year statute of limitations looming, he felt he had no choice. Dershowitz said that he was unsure how negotiations with the Garden had gone before the filing, as he entrusted the case to attorney Alex MacDonald, one of his former students.
MacDonald could not be reached for comment.
Dershowitz, 76, claims in court documents that he “violently slipped, causing him to fall upward and then hard upon the tile floor and severely twisting his right knee and leg, landing on his back.”
Even with an insurance payout, his share of the ensuing medical bills totaled $5,984.22, according to the complaint, including $1,150 for an ambulance ride from the Garden to Massachusetts General Hospital. He is also seeking an unspecified amount as compensation for “economic and intangible damages.”
Dershowitz did not call for an ambulance right away, however. Though he “could not walk unaided due to the pain and injury to his knee,” Dershowitz “painfully and carefully returned to his seat, using the handrails for assistance,” to catch the fourth quarter of a playoff game between the Celtics and the Miami Heat.
“I usually don’t go to the bathroom during the fourth quarter,” he noted in his interview with the Globe, “but I’m getting a little older, and the bladder is a little more active these days.”
Dershowitz — a noted sports fan with a pastrami sandwich, “The Dersh,” named in his honor at the Bleacher Bar outside of Fenway Park — saw an exciting finish. The Celtics fended off a late charge by the Heat to win Game 3 of the 2012 Eastern Conference finals, 101-91. Kevin Garnett, who also suffered a memorably hard fall in the game, led the way, with 24 points and 11 rebounds.
Dershowitz is a prominent legal commentator sought by news outlets for his analysis of civil liberties cases, such as the one brought last month by the Maryland state attorney against six Baltimore police officers implicated in the death of Freddie Gray.
In one of his early high-profile cases, in 1984, Dershowitz successfully appealed the conviction of the British socialite Claus von Bulow for the attempted murder of his wife. Dershowitz’s book about the case became the 1990 movie “Reversal of Fortune,” starring Glenn Close and Jeremy Irons.
Dershowitz also represented boxer Mike Tyson in his 1993 appeal of a rape conviction, and was part of O.J. Simpson’s defense team during the former football star’s 1995 murder trial, which ended with an acquittal. Dershowitz released a book about the Simpson case in 1996, one of 30 he has authored on various subjects.
Several of his writings address longstanding tensions between Israelis and Palestinians, and he has been honored by the Anti-Defamation League for civil rights advocacy.
A slip-and-fall lawsuit may seem small, compared with Dershowitz’s other causes, but he says the effects of his bathroom wipeout linger to this day.
According to the complaint, he remains in physical therapy long after being diagnosed with a sprained medial collateral ligament. He no longer requires a knee brace or a crutch to get around, as he did for “many months” following the spill, but continues to experience pain that hampers his mobility and keeps him awake at night.
He may need surgery in the future, the complaint states.
“This is small — for everybody but me,” Dershowitz said. “When you hurt your knee, you feel it every day.”
The writer appears to have obtained his opener 'from' "Awkward Sentences Are Us"...
Me, I think he “violently slipped” when he started doinking the 16 year old girl on Epstein’s planes. And according to the girl, he violently slipped it in her many times. She can even quote some of the things he told her.
Oh, but he was never there. And if he was, surely it was someone ELSE’s fault. Maybe he can sue Epstein or Clinton. His penis wasn’t EXPECTING a sexy young girl in those locations. No one had kept that girl from looking as hot as she did. Plus drinks were served. Everyone knows that when a man drinks around a child prostitute slave, things can get out of hand...
What a self-absorbed weinie.
Like no one has ever had a strained MCL before!
>>Dershowitz’s book about the case became the 1990 movie “Reversal of Fortune,” starring Glenn Close and Jeremy Irons.
The late Ron Silver played Dershowitz. He is seen playing some basketball with his interns/co-workers. At one point Claus’ girlfriend tells him why they contacted him. “I kept telling him, get the Jew!”
Silver, as Dershowitz, takes a beat pause (as actors put it) and says, “Can the Jew get down to business?”
Dersh also helped out Howie Carr in a suit involving Don Imus and a couple networks; as Carr put it in The Brothers Bulger, the case was settled out of court
(Howie got a Fla. condo out of it)
>>From Scott Fybush NE Radio Watch, 1998:
“Carr, meantime, is embroiled in a nasty shouting match with Don Imus. It started when Carr began poking fun at Imus’ age, and escalated when Imus accused Carr’s wife, Kathy, of having an affair with boxer Riddick Bowe. Now Kathy Carr has hired publicity-shy lawyer Alan Dershowitz to file a libel suit…”
Sounds like Harry Reid’s excuse: “I got my ass kicked, but here’s my cover story, and I’m sticking to it, and so shoudl you, if you know what’s good for you...”
Either the litigant is extremely wealthy, or Dershowitz needs to make some quick money to pay his bookie.
Maybe they can have adjoining cells in Colorado.
See Jeremy Irons get the scare of his life in “The Merchant of Venice”. From a Jew no less.
A pretty good interpretation of Shakespeare’s play.
I'm curious as to how he could prove that, three years after the incident allegedly occurred.
Well, he won’t get a dim unless he sues Delaware North. Hmmm, Dershowitz vs Jeremy Jacobs...can they both lose?
Prof. Dershowitz, though a Liberal, is one of the most highly respected legal minds in this country. To see him stoop to the level of a daytime television slip-and-fall lawyer is truly a disappointment.
At least he didn't start with "It was a dark and stormy night when, in a restroom bereft of paper towels, Alan Dershowitz slipped and fell....." </s
Slippin Alam
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