telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Moderator) (09/14/89)
Alan Schlesinger's stock in trade is suing people. But you might say his stock is too hot to handle at Merrill Lynch these days. A Boston lawyer who hates telephone solicitors, Schlesinger sued Merrill Lynch after the brokerage firm ignored 'repeated requests' to quit calling him with investment proposals. To Merrill Lynch's surprise, he won an injunction. Indeed, he sued them *two times* and won. The second time was after an unwitting broker called him in violation of the court order prohibiting it. "This is something that bothers a lot of people, but they don't have the sense they can do something about it," said Schlesinger, whose best retort is a tort, it would seem. In the second suit, the court awarded him $300, for the costs of his prosecution of the matter and for his time spent on the phone with the brokerage house's phone room. "He is using an atom bomb to deal with a gnat," said William Fitzpatrick, chief lawyer for the Securities Industry Association, faulting Schlesinger for doing what comes naturally for an attorney: "Being a lawyer myself, I can only guess he doesn't have enough brains to just hang up the phone." Have a nice day. I'll see you tomorrow. Patrick Townson