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I have filed an Answer, Counterclaim and Third Party Complaint in which I seek damages for certain harms I believe I have suffered both individually and as a member of the High Gables HOA, including defamatory statements I believe that have been made about me. While I intend to pursue these claims to their logical conclusion (including dropping them if they turn out to be unfounded after I have completed discovery), I want everyone to feel free to speak their minds in this forum I have created. While there is a defamation exemption for any statements made in the course of litigation, I want to assure everyone that they are free to say anything they want in this forum and that I will not pursue any further claims against anyone as a result of same. I only desire to pursue actionable claims, if any, that arose from conduct prior to the filing of the lawsuit against me.

To my chagrin, I have noticed a typographical error or two in some of the letters and other documents I have posted on this site and/or sent to opposing counsel or third parties. For the record, I tend to do a better job when I am getting paid for my services, and I do not want any friends or neighbors who may be considering using my firm to draw any adverse conclusions about my firm's abilities to handle their needs as a result of any typos they made find.

Larry, his wife Lynn and their three sons, Matt, Rob and Drew built their dream home on a great 2+ acre Lot in a nice subdivision. The Oldhams apparently offended the sensibilities of some of their neighbors when they moved into their new home in May of 2005 with a gravel driveway, even though they fully intended to pour their 600 foot long concrete driveway within a couple of weeks of occupancy. Unfortunately, rainy weather, unanticipated site problems and contractor scheduling issues led to it taking longer than the Oldhams expected to complete their driveway.

In October of 2005, Larry found himself named as the defendant in a civil lawsuit filed against him by the High Gables Homeowners Association over his alleged violation of covenants pertaining to his driveway, mailbox and associated landscaping. The lawsuit seeks money damages, and the HOA purports to assess as fine in the amount of $25.00 per day until the alleged violation is abated. This amounts to roughly $1,675.00 through November 7, 2005 (the date the pouring of the driveway and sidewalk was completed), and to $2,550.00 through December 11, 2005 (the date that all the entrance landscaping Larry intends to do at the present time was completed). Larry has installed a temporary mailbox and will comply with the "neighborhood standard" once same is provided to him by the HOA as he requested by letter dated November 14, 2005. The lawsuit also requests injunctive relief, which has been mooted by the pouring of the driveway and sidewalk and installation of the landscaping and mailbox, and also seeks the HOA's attorney's fees and expenses of litigation on the grounds that Larry has acted in bad faith, been stubbornly litigious and/or has caused the HOA unnecessary trouble and expense. It is the second time in 14+ years of law practice that Larry has found himself as a party to a lawsuit instead of as one of the attorneys representing the litigants (the other time was a car accident claim that was not his fault that was filed to protect the statute of limitations and eventually dismissed with the plaintiff recovering nothing).

To keep from having to repeat the same story or to offer the same explanations over and over, Larry thought it best to create this web page to keep anyone interested in the lawsuit up to date on the latest developments. Ironically, Larry makes his living keeping his clients out of trouble and advising them that principles are often too costly to litigate over, but he has never been one to heed his own advice.

As the litigation proceeds, Larry will be including copies of pleadings, correspondence and other pertinent information for informational purposes. Once his neighbors and others have all of the relevant information available to them, they can make their own decisions regarding the relative positions of the parties to the lawsuit. Larry recognizes that the actions of both sides in this matter may be seen by those who are not involved as childish and/or silly -- or, at the very least, downright un-neighborly -- but he reminds the reader that he did not choose the forum for this particular battle and had always hoped to avoid it escalating to its present status. Nevertheless, in the words of the immortal Johnny Rambo, "They drew first blood," and neither Larry nor anyone in his family has ever been known to run from a fight.