The pending dispute between Peter Atkins and Linda Martin over Henny has not been resolved. Eventing Nation reports
A source close to the situation tells me that Peter Atkins and Linda Martin both attended mediation on Tuesday, 7th December with their attorneys, but no agreement was reached on Tuesday after several hours of mediation. Mediation is where both parties and their respective lawyers meet together with an independent attorney in an attempt to reach an agreement out of court–it’s a way to save time and money and reach a compromise.
That’s really a shame. Mediation was a good option. This type of situation (complicated and specific to the sport) is difficult to explain to a judge. Once they go to court the attorneys fees pile up and the decision is no longer in the hands of the people who care the most for the horse.
When I was in the midst of a legal dispute last year, my attorney warned me that going to court would be expensive and there was no guarantee that I would win, even though he thought I was “right.” In the end I settled. I hope they find a way to settle, too.
Since no one but the two of them knows the specifics of the agreement. I won’t speculate on who should prevail, but it’s almost a certainty that no one will be happy if this goes to court. Sigh.
It’s a rare court case in which one person “wins”. Judges often look for the middle ground, unless the case is crystal clear. Both parties usually come away dissatisfied.
Whole thing is sad.
I DO NOT THINK BOTH PARTIES WILL BE DISSATISFIED!
An equine attorney told Linda Martin to get her horse when Peter refused to acknowledge or discuss the draft free lease agreement provided to him. Linda has a bill of sale and owns the horse so why shouldn’t she have possession.
Peter’s actions prior to this fiasco were to fraudulently get a passport for Henry J. Hampton naming himself as owner and to fraudulently put his name as owner of “Henny” as often as he could without Linda Martin’s knowledge. These actions seem to point to the possibility that Peter was trying to create a paper trail fraudulently documenting himself as owner. A paper trail that was used to convince a Judge to temporarily award Peter custody of Henry J. Hampton (still has the horse). Imagine if Peter had used this fraudulent paper trail to take Henry J. Hampton out of the country? Another reason Linda’s equine attorney advised her to pick up her horse.
Given that this judge is new to the bench and was recently a prosecutor, She will be somewhat pissed off at being made a fool off. The owner is the one with the Bill of Sale and temporary custody was given back to Peter based proof that was fraudulent. Wonder if there will be criminal charges? Bottom line, Linda will end up with her horse and that is the end of this story.
It seems like you know more about this than has been generally reported.
Sitting on the sidelines with no real, first hand knowledge about the situation it is easy to speculate about it.
However, knowing how much it costs to hire an attorney, I cringe to think of the bills for this.
Personally, I hope what everyone takes away from this situation is that you have to get contracts IN WRITING. Even when you think that it’s among friends.