September 23, 2008
Stupid Lawsuits: Ex-con Lawyer Sues American Express
A disbarred Manhattan lawyer who pleaded guilty to statutory rape has sued the American Express Co. for giving police credit card information he says led to his capture.
James Colliton was arrested in February 2006 near Toronto, where prosecutors say he fled after being indicted on charges of having sex with underage girls.
The 44-year-old Colliton said Monday that American Express violated its agreement to withhold customer information from third parties. The lawsuit seeks an unspecified sum.
"James Colliton, once a $500,000-a-year tax lawyer at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, contends the credit card company breached its rules by telling authorities that he had used the card in February 2006 to pay for gas in Ontario, Canada," according to the N.Y. Daily News.
At the time, Colliton was wanted on statutory rape charges. The New York Post says he later pleaded guilty Colliton pleaded guilty in October 2007 and was sentenced to three concurrent one-year terms. He spent 19 months in a New York prison.
But Colliton tells the Daily News that he wasn't running from the cops when Canadian authorities took him into custody. "You're not a fugitive if you sign into a major chain hotel using your driver's license and your American Express card," he says.
American Express spokeswoman Joanna Lambert says company officials haven't seen the lawsuit and can't comment.
Filed under Blog, Stupid Lawsuits by Tracy Robinson
Comments on Stupid Lawsuits: Ex-con Lawyer Sues American Express »
I have to agree with the lawyer, If the information was presented without the formal legal proceedings, there is going to be precedence and the privacy of individuals is going to erode.
If he wins this case it makes a mockery of the legal system. OK, they shouldn't tell people your details in normal circumstances, but if your wanted for a crime there should be an exception. We can't just allow criminals to remain free because we won't do all we can to catch them. As he pleaded guilty it makes his suit he more rediculous.
It'd be interesting to see the actual agreement between Collition and American Express that touches the subject. My guess is that American Express would have covered this in their agreement and that an argument based on semantics won't hold up.
I think he does have the right to sue. But my question is… can he still sue if he was already been convicted?
Wouldn't the company be required to give up the information if it was subpoenaed?
I agree with Rom, but i still not get this, How can he sue a company if he is already been charged guilty for a conviction.
The very fact that the Lawyer in this case has pleaded guilty says it all, in this my opinion. American Express one would hope should get through this lawsuit by acting in exceptional circumstances and the information they have given to the police may have potentially saved lives, not to mention the trauma this man has cause to these women.
There should be new data protection rules and guidelines that should protect the credit card companies in giving this information to assist the police in future..