TT 44 Legal Briefs Escapees from Prison In 1988, some 10,351 convicts escaped from United States prisons, and only 76 percent were recaptured. Source: United States Department of Justice, ‘On a matter of privciple, the co-op board decided i all out to win. By November 1988, 1 legal fees to $5,904. By January, ater drafting, iti -osuments; another $3,996 was ade 6 oint. the co-op's legal-expensés were: more:‘tha times the: costof what was at stake! York Civil Court red that “ogc a well as lease provision” required the Disc : $209, The Diacous appealed atthe egal tinued to, climb. The first appeals cour gis ust be shared by The Legal Meter Runs and Runs In 1977, the City of New York passed a law. requiting win- -dow guards for apartments with children, under age ten. ‘This prompted a vote by the co-op board at 360 W. 36th » Streetruling that the cost for such equipment must be paid for-by the'residents who need itrather than spreading the 4 D take thé. cate, ost aroyiid equally, Alec and Suzi Diacou, whose third | Hs child'was'only a month old at the'time, refused to pay the | ‘A provision “under the owners $909 charged for the. iron, bars. installed across. 32. wi when a dispute occurs betwee » dos of their ninth-oor ait. ‘owner, the loser must rei ‘The co-op board brought suit against the Diacous. After all it wasia mater of principle. Ifthe Diacous did not pay, it would set an expensive. precedent that ‘other residents, night follow::The co-op hired the law firm; Gallet Dreyer “Berkey, and by October 1987, three hours and twenty. {egal expenses totaling-a who} five minutes of legal work were ‘applied to settlement | ald $30,000 to their attorneys' ands | For ebvious reasons, both paities had anvad efforts and ‘other communications with the defendants, court to pay $30,000 ofthe co-0p's | 10 win'the cas tgatién ent on and Bn, UB ‘Supreme Court: Wher it was The co-op's bill. ame: to. $315. When settlement Was a cosy lesson for both. patie. In couldn't be reached, more legal work Was required, and Diacou'says, "I'm a. man’ converted. y June’ 1988, the tab totaled $1,015, more than the:cost “Anything you can possibly do to avoid a lawsui ‘of the window, ‘ ras 7 Ne wriards Source: Lambert, Wade, “Ever Heat the Ore Abit the Lawyele 2 and Window Bact” Wal Steet cual Mach 251394 poet