Ron Levy (8/29):
Doug Dowie risked his life to fight for America as a U.S. Marine in Vietnam.
At Fleishman-Hillard he fought fiercely and successfully on behalf of clients and rose to become the deeply respected head of his office. He was a tough but fair boss who fought for adherence by his staff to highest levels of performance for the clients.
He took and passed an independent lie detector test.
He said he not only didn't approve of any overcharges but didn't even now about overcharges by subordinates some of whom he had terminated for other reasons.
But it wasn't enough because in this he-said-she-said case, the jury guessed that what the District Attorney said was probably true. The case against Doug Dowie stunk.
It stunk that he was indicted by a new district attorney when the administration that had employed Dowie lost an election and the new administration came in eager to make the outgoing administration look bad.
It stunk that witnesses against Doug Dowie were people he had fired, and a modest-level client woman, no beauty, who may have felt slighted at lack of attention from Dowie with his movie-star looks. It stunk that although Dowie was clearly not guilty based on an independent lie-detector test, the judge wouldn't let him introduce that evidence unless he gave up his right not to testify, a right all Americans have not just in alleged overbilling cases but even in cases of mass murder and rape.
Why would you if innocent not want to give up your right not to testify? Because the eager prosecutor could ask you whether you're guilty of wife-beating, child-molesting and more. The judge would overrule the questions but the jury would be influenced, which is one reason that Americans have the protection.
It stunk that Doug Dowie's case was so good that a right to appeal was granted by no less than a United States Court of Appeals--just one notch below the U.S. Supreme Court--and Dowie may after six years have lost that appeal because of making a Big Mistake.
His mistake, which any of us might make, was running out of money. He had hired one of America's greatest lawyers--named a "Super Lawyer" by one publication and repeatedly designated as one of the greatest lawyers by another--but when Doug Dowie ran out of money, Doug Dowie ran out of luck.
The lawyer he could afford couldn't win for him although the Court of Appeals had agreed to hear his appeal. F-H was very extremely generous to Doug Dowie in giving him expense money for counsel, and generous with clients in giving them expensive talent like Doug Dowie.
F-H has long been a firm that hires the very best talent money can buy (you can imagine what Ryan Peal can command) then tries to charge enough to cover and make a profit. But even when helping top-level talent there have to be bottom-line considerations so Doug Dowie ran out of money, lost his appeal and now has lost his freedom.
It stinks! The case against Doug Dowie. |