Score One For the Little Guys


I remember the night, back in '97, when family friend and consumer advocate lawyer, Sheila Canavan, told us at a dinner party that she was taking on First Alliance Mortgage on behalf of some little old ladies who had been hosed by this predatory lending giant. It's one thing to take on the occasional lost cause, but we thought that maybe Sheila was stretching it on this one.

Well, shame on us. We underestimated her. She worked herself to near exaustion for over two years going after these bastards--unscrupulous lenders who were luring old folks into deceptively written and ruinous mortgages, often driving them into bankruptcy and then taking over their homes.

Their legions of high-priced attorneys kept Sheila and her team buried in a flurry of motions, week after week,month after month, hoping to deplete the team physically, emotionally, and financially. Sheila refused to give up and, eventually justice was done. The New Tork Times today reports the happy conclusion. I hear she's going to take the money and retire to the Red Rock country of Utah. You earned it, gal!