Linley Jones (left) and Joe Kingma

 

The jury in a legal-malpractice case against Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart and a former lawyer there awarded nearly $1.8 million to a British wildlife filmmaker who lost her job with National Geographic over forged signatures on visa documents prepared by the law firm.

Because the Fulton County jury also ruled that the firm should face punitive damages, another trial on those will convene Thursday. The award includes $550,000 in attorney fees.

“We are very pleased with the verdict and look forward to the punitive damages phase,” said Linley Jones, lead counsel for plaintiff Karen Bass.

The award included $565,000 in general damages and—because Bass' salary was paid in British pounds—499,000 pounds for past and future lost wages, or about $706,700 at the current exchange rate.

The jury apportioned 2 percent of the liability to Bass.

During closing arguments Wednesday, Jones said the acclaimed wildlife documentary producer lost her job with National Geographic because of “falsehood and forgery” she ascribed to Ogletree and former firm associate Brandi Knox.

Jones said Bass suffered financially and professionally when National Geographic learned that four years of Bass' visa applications included the forged signature of one of its officers. National Geographic terminated Bass shortly after the revelation.

The unauthorized signature was written by Knox, who was an Ogletree associate at the time.

The alleged forgeries and lack of oversight by Knox's superiors at Ogletree did “real damage,” said Jones, costing Bass her position at National Geographic and scuttling opportunities for other projects.

“Some projects never got made,” said Jones, and National Geographic has still not rehired her, though Jones said she is well regarded there.

Bass is fortunate to have found an Asia-based media company that was willing to hire her, Jones said.

“Who would want to get caught up in all this baggage?” asked Jones, representing Bass with Linley Jones Firm senior associate Angela Forstie.    

Jones suggested the jury award total damages of more than $3 million, plus punitive damages.  

Lead defense attorney Joe Kingma of Carlock Copeland & Stair said Knox had admittedly made “mistakes” and that the firm was agreeable to paying Bass ”reasonable” damages for several months when she was unable to get a visa and out of work, as well as for her “aggravation”

But, he said, Bass should not be delivered a windfall worth millions of dollars for that mistake.

“You've heard a lot about forgery in this case,” said Kingma, representing the defendants with firm partner Shannon Sprinkle and associate Matthew Gass. “Why are they calling it forgery? Because Ms. Bass wants to demonize Brandi; she wants you to think she's a horrible person.”

“This was a misunderstanding, not some capital crime,” said Kingma. “She didn't take any money. She made a mistake.”

The case began in 2010 when bass was hired to work on National Geographic's “Wild America” television series. Because she had to travel to the U.S. frequently, in 2011 she and National Geographic retained Knox—then an associate with Littler Mendelson—to help secure an O-1 visa, a specialty visa for people possessing particular talent in the arts, sports, business or athletics.

Knox discussed the petition with National Geographic senior vice president and associate general counsel Megan Edwards.

According to Bass' account, Knox forged Edwards' signature on the petition and sent it to the U.S. State Department.

The defense said Knox simply signed the petition on Edwards' behalf and filed it. After moving to Ogletree, she continued to sign Edwards' name for the next three years as the time came to renew the visa.

In 2014, the visa processing center contacted Edwards with questions about the visa, and she said she had not signed the renewals. Bass was terminated the same day.

Knox contacted Edwards and, according to her testimony, told Edwards that Bass had said she had a power of attorney from Edwards permitting Knox to sign the petition.

Bass sought out several other lawyers, eventually obtaining a visitor's visa through a London firm and returning to finish work on “Wild Yellowstone,”

In 2016, Bass and her production company, Karen Bass Media, sued Ogletree and Knox in Fulton County Superior Court, asserting claims including legal malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, negligent representation and fraud.

During a seven-day trial before Judge Fred Eady, defense counsel argued that National Geographic was undergoing serious financial difficulties between 2012 and 2015, laying off three waves of employees and indicating to Bass—one of its higher-paid employees—that she may be let go.

Defense counsel also challenged Bass' damage claims, arguing that she has worked for other outlets and that her reputation was apparently unharmed. Bass, defense lawyers pointed out, was awarded an Emmy after her dismissal from National Geographic and was inducted into Britain's Royal Geographical Society.

Any damage award for Bass' past and future lost wages will be calculated in British pounds, while any general and punitive damages will be in U.S. dollars.

Kingma suggested an award of 84,298 British pounds—$118,856 at the current exchange rate—for Bass' lost wages and another $50,000 for her aggravation.