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LATHROP AND GAGE: Lighten Up & Enjoy Your Lucre (Part 1)

Dear Lathrop and Gage:  lighten up and enjoy your lucre. Regards, Unhappy Franchisee

Lathrop & Gage, the powerhouse law firm, is tattling to mommy that Jonny Fortman said bad things about them on UnhappyFranchisee.com.

Lathrop and Gage has filed a Defendant Motion for Sanctions and a Defendants Motion for Protective Order (on behalf of their clients) against Fortman, their opposing counsel in the case of Markeeta Rivera, et al., Plaintiffs, vs. Simpatico, Inc., Stratus Franchising, LLC, et al., Defendants.

Lathrop & Gage is defending the alleged sleazedog scam artists (note that I said alleged, counselors) known as Stratus Franchising, LLC and Simpatico, Inc., headed by Dennis Jarrett and Pete Frese.

Attorney Jonathan Fortman is representing more than 100 alleged victims, many of whom turned over their life savings to the defendants and their master franchisees for “guaranteed” janitorial jobs, and received little to nothing in return.

Lathrop & Gage is being paid huge sums for their team of lawyers (Scott J. Dickenson, Mathew A. Jacober, John D. Ryan, Emily E. Kiser – referred to collectively as the “poodles”** on UnhappyFranchisee.com),  presumably from the life savings of many of the plaintiffs.

Attorney Jonathan Fortman is working on contingency, since what little savings his clients amassed was seemingly stolen from them in the Stratus Building Solutions franchise scam.

Lathrop & Gage has 281 attorneys and is the 150th largest firm in the United States*.

Jonathan Fortman has Jonathan Fortman… and a single paralegal (the formidable Kelly Spann).

Lathrop & Gage has gross revenues of $138,000,000, revenue per lawyer of $475,000, and profits per partner of $465,000*.

When Jonathan Fortman wins a big settlement, as he did on behalf of the defrauded franchisees of Contours Express, he uses his portion to finance representation of those who can’t afford representation, like the janitorial franchisees of Stratus Building Solutions.

Lathrop & Gage is Mr. Potter chiding George Bailey for “playing nursemaid to a lot of garlic-eaters.”

Attorney Jonathan Fortman is George Bailey, sticking up for clients others take advantage of, then discard.

Lathrop & Gage is like the redcoats, insisting on lining up in the open and firing from proper formation… using $1000 dollar bullets paid for by their clients.

Jon Fortman is like the minutemen, firing musket loads of grapeshot from behind trees, rocks and bushes.

Lathrop & Gage brags it was founded in 1873 “on the heartland principles of honor, service, trust and value.”

Jonathan Fortman personifies honor, service, trust and value in the present day.

Jonathan Fortman was described as being like a “junkyard dog”** on a conference call conducted by Lathrop and Gage attorneys.

Lathrop and Gage attorneys Scott J. Dickenson and Mathew A. Jacober were described as “poodles” by the Stratus insider on the same call**.

Now the poodles have their fluffy coats in a bunch because the junkyard dog has expressed opinions in a public, unpaid forum (ee-gad)… and that, yap the poodles, is unacceptable and just not FAIR!

Reason #1 Lathrop & Gage Should Lighten up & Enjoy the Lucre: Partner Profits

Lathrop and Gage should put aside its hurt feelings and remember the ultimate goal:  to get that profit-per-partner up to $500,000.

Without a bogeyman, kids’ nightlight manufacturers would be out of business.

In the movie Hook, remember how miserable Captain Hook was without Peter Pan to battle?

Predatorial franchisors have gotten snug and secure, hiding behind their well-constructed corporate entities, behind their clever structures where they can use individual master franchisees as scapegoats, and mountains of one-sided agreements that favor them.

But we all know the big, big partner profits are not in creating corporate entities and master franchise agreements.  The BIG, big partner profits come when enraged corporate con-men and thieves come running to a law firm like Lathrop and Gage, waving their checkbooks, because somebody has the audacity to publicly call them con-men and thieves.

Corporate con-men and thieves have invested in a system they believe will protect them from being outed as con-men and thieves.  When that protective veil of polite discourse and “professional conduct” is broken, money is no object – they will pay whatever it takes to defend their fictional honor.

So, Lathrop and Gage should not work so hard to silence the voices that enrage the con-men and thieves.

After all, it is that outrage and indignation that transforms con-men and thieves from really good clients into GREAT clients.

Continue reading LATHROP AND GAGE: Lighten Up & Enjoy Your Lucre (Part 2)

Read more here:  Janitorial / Commercial Cleaning Franchise Issues

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH LATHROP AND GAGE?  SCOTT DICKENSON AND MATHEW JACOBER?  STRATUS BUILDING SOLUTIONS?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

Contact UnhappyFranchisee.com

* Source:  The American Lawyer

** The actual nicknames “junkyard dog” and “poodles” were coined by UnhappyFranchisee commenter and Stratus insider Reasoned Source.

Disclaimer:  The assertions and personal characterizations in this post are personal opinions and should be interpreted as such.  They are opinions – Smart, well-reasoned and clever opinions – not statements of fact.

4 thoughts on “LATHROP AND GAGE: Lighten Up & Enjoy Your Lucre (Part 1)

  • Pingback: LATHROP AND GAGE: Lighten Up & Enjoy Your Lucre (Part 2) : Unhappy Franchisee

  • Reasoned Source

    @Viewers: Sorry, we all know how creative minds work, when they are hot, they are hot….Here’s the next PR/Branding idea for Matt Jacober, Scott Dickenson, Dan Doyle and Lathrop and Gage:

    Here’s why you should hire Lathrop and Gage, we charge outrageous fee’s, we do over 138 million dollars in general revenue, we will make sure your simple, easy to handle case puts hundreds of thousands of dollars into our Partners Pockets!

    We will advise your Team and your Owners on the following Best Practices (For Us):

    a) How to hold a Cluster F*** of a Phone meeting in which we get all of your disgruntled investors on the phone and tell them basically nothing they want to hear!

    b) In that same meeting, we will instruct them on how to form a properly lined “Perp Walk” down which we expect you to move forward or backward, whichever is best for us and our pockets!

    c) We will take 100’s of thousands of dollars in billable fee’s and for which we promise the following will happen:

    1) We will be outflanked
    2) We will be outwitted
    3) We will not outlast (technically you as the customer won’t outlast)
    4) We will be outplayed
    5) We will be outmaneuvered
    6) We will be embarrassed and embarrass you at the same time

    However, we have a good excuse for the above, the opponent(s) were as follows:

    a) A single lawyer law firm
    b) A publisher/owner of a Blog Site currently ranked in the top 60,000 of all sites
    c) A Fictional Character that somehow knows more about what is going on then we do on any given topic at any given moment!

    Now, when do you think the above will be placed on Lathrop and Gage’s Website?

    You know how creative minds work, I’m sure in the coming days, there will be more…

  • Reasoned Source

    Breaking News!!!!!! I have come up with another marketing and branding idea for Lathrop and Gage and more directly for Matt Jacober and Dan Doyle….For some reason, I have a picture of the two of them sitting on the corners of a large desk in a fancy room, full of law books on shelves and the camera and lights get turned on and they say the following:

    “We at Lathrop and Gage are for the people” , “Not all the people” , “Just the wealthy one’s that have done bad things to others”, “We are here to protect the Fat Cats as our billable hours range from the $500’s to over $1500.00 per hour”. “We will take you to the cleaners while we instruct you and your Team on the proper method and processes of Self Implosion”!!!!!

    Recently, we assisted a group of low life’s formally known as Stratus Franchising, here from St. Louis County Jail are excerpts of an interview done solely on our behalf and continued representation fee for Dennis Jarrett and Pete Frese.

    Don’t mind the Orange and Pink colored jumpsuits…..

    Not so much of a Advertisement as it is about to be Reality…….

    No DJ, No Pete even the high priced attorneys of Lathrop and Gage and two Partners in Matt Jacober and Dan Doyle can stop ultimately the legal and moral cleansing that is about to happen to the two of you. They have done a GREAT JOB of finishing off your company, ruining your combined Low Life Reputation to how did Mr. Wenger put it “SCUMBAG LEVEL”!

    Remaining Masters, Are you about to become the final Joke in the Stratus Franchising, LLC. saga or Are you going to get out and remove yourself from these GOONS?

    Lathrop and Gage, you fired your last bullet from an already depleted clip and you missed badly. You were already in a Questionable Status by representing these two and their SCAM of a company in the first place…It only goes downhill for you as an organization and as individuals from here….

    Matt Jacober, Dan Doyle, Scott Dickenson and any other Lathrop and Gage Attorney associated with DJ and Pete and Stratus Franchising the jokes, the articles, the P/R and Branding aspect is about to turn towards you!!!!!!

  • Reasoned Source

    @Viewers, As none other than family patriarch Manouch Moshayedi has halted the effort for Afshin Cangarlu, Marvin Ashton, Channen/Rene Smith to get the much needed financing in order to “re-launch” and “re-brand” the Stratus Building Solutions Dead Brand, it has left a very big hole in the plans of none other than Dennis Jarrett…..As reported month’s ago and actually 1/2 heartedly denied by Pete Frese in email, the SPLIT between DJ and Pete continues to widen. Pete wants nothing to do with “Old Fat Bastard” and his room sized EGO any longer, DJ in one of his multiple personality/delusional states, still believes that HE and the Stratus Brand even in re-branded form will not only survive but THRIVE. However, it needs a NEW FACE and Cash. Both of which have just disappeared.

    On the Horizon is more lawsuits in civil court brewing, more investigations into not only what Pete and DJ did directly, but primarily because of several peoples input, the facilitators and validators are being looked at in Texas and Florida Criminal Circles.

    The following people are FINISHED in the commercial cleaning arena/field: DJ, Pete, Bill (sexual harasser) Blair, Bob (Stinky) Stapleton, Marvin (RICO MAN) Ashton, Marissa (I’m the National Marketing Director) Lather, David (I’m not as BIG of a SCUMBAG as DJ/Pete/Marvin/Bill are) Farrell, Carmen (Where in the World am I) Garcia.

    Matt Jacober and Lathrop and Gage have become a HUGE JOKE in multiple areas including their lack of P/R sense, their Evaluation of Situation(s), their Handling of the Stratus Franchising Case(s) and eventual destruction.

    The Validators of Ken (Golden Boy) Cassiri, Jeff (Anal) Abel, Tom (I’m not the Embezzler you are) Weiss, John (I’m not the Embezzler either) Coleman, Mark (My Family aren’t Cheats, Liars, Thieves, Questioned in Disappearance of Yacht Helpers) Bashforth, Afshin (Slum Dog who wants to be a Millionaire) Cangarlu are getting a close eye looked at both in the Civil Arena and Possibly Criminal Arena by at least one State Attorney General.

    The Scheme by Which Dennis Jarrett, Pete Frese and Afshin Cangarlu utilized to Defraud Investors, The Facilitators (Marissa, Bill, David, Marvin, Bob, Carmen) utilized by them to actively solicit and market the Scheme fully knowing the REAL TRUTH combined with the SKIM garnered by the Validators (Afshin, Channen/Rene Smith, Mark/Jayson Bashforth, Tom Weiss, John Coleman, Ken (Golden Boy) Cassiri and Jeff (Anal) Abel) is so far ranging, so well played, so full of FRAUD it is unlike ANYTHING that Cleannet, Coverall, Jani-King, Jan-Pro, Anago is accused of doing/did.

    These People (DJ/Pete, Validators, Facilitators) are more than common day Crooks, to call this a Ponzi Scheme almost insults Bernie Madoff and others!

    I was asked recently, WHY hasn’t any of these people verified WHO you are and SUED YOUR ASS? Answer, simply, When you are Telling the Truth, When you have the Documentation needed, When you are speaking directly with Lawyers and Civil Servants alike, When you have Wealth and Protection, When you are Dealing with Bullies such as Dennis Jarrett, Pete Frese and the others, YOU HIT THEM HARD, FIRST, CONTINUOUSLY and you do not COWAR it is amazing when you can show/prove to the World!!!!!!! People are coming out of the Wood Work to Verify, to Validate, to Add their Voice to the Group known as REASONED SOURCE everyday! Just this week alone, I have spoken to former Regional Directors of Channen/Rene Smith, Mark/Jayson Bashforth and Ken Cassiri. Recently I have spoken to Sales Managers, Operations Managers, Key Employees of Ken Casiri, Jeff Abel, Mark Bashforth, Afshin Cangarlu, Channen/Rene Smith and John Coleman/Tom Weiss.

    These HERO’s are silent no longer, the amount of knowledge they posses, the VALIDATION Documents and Statements given show a WIDE Range of subjects that show directly WHO gave WHAT Orders, WHO really did Direct Harm on Purpose to Unit Franchisees and THEIR Families.

    Former Masters, Current Masters and One Destroyed Master have made contact with REASONED SOURCE over the past two Years, giving copies of documents, statements of fact that have been validated/verified, have spoken too Three (3) different attorneys and one Attorney General.

    Stratus as a BRAND is finished, Civil Suits are gong to continue and more will come, Criminal Charges by the Grace of God and a Willing Spirit will happen to some/all of these people……

    Look at what has happened already, Look at the Loss all/each of these people have gone through, Look at the Timeline, Look at the Level of Harm done to the number of people from all different walks of life, Stratus Building Solutions is Finished!

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