BUT we can hope they win and put Britvan out of business and make other attorneys in the business think about a career change....
Couple sue adoption lawyers for $5million claiming: 'We wouldn't have adopted our son had we known he was ill'
By Simon NevilleA New York couple are suing their lawyers for $5million, claiming they were not told about the serious medical condition of their adopted son.
Lynell and Victor Jeffrey say they would not have adopted their son Ellington in 2006 had they known about the ‘severe neurological deficits’ they discovered following a CAT scan shortly after becoming the legal parents, court documents claim.
Lawyers for the defendants believe the ‘frivolous’ lawsuit, filed at Queens Supreme Court in New York, will fail – having already been thrown out by judges in Indiana where the child, who is now 5-years-old, was born.
Scott Agulnick of Greenblatt and Agulnick attorneys, representing Alyssa Seinden - one of the adoption lawyers named in the lawsuit - told MailOnline: ‘I hate to say it, but it almost seems like they have Buyers’ Remorse.’
The couple first approached the New York-based law office of Aaron Britvan in 2003, looking to adopt.
The process, which can last several years, took a turn for the best in 2006 when Britvan – who is the second person named in the lawsuit – received word from a client in Indiana of a pregnant woman looking to put her baby up for adoption.
The details were passed to the Jeffreys, who then contacted the mother directly and agreed to the adoption.
According to court documents, Britvan advised the Jeffreys to get an Indiana-based law firm to represent them, which they did and completed the documentation in Indiana.
Aaron "the man" Britvan, well known for baby selling
The couple allege that Britvan and Seiden should have informed them of any medical problems – which is the law in New York, but not in Indiana – and tried to sue them in the Midwest state.
But the court threw the case out, saying that Britvan and Seiden cannot be sued there because the firm is based in New York and outside its jurisdiction.
Now the couple are trying to sue the pair in New York, filing court documents in Queens Supreme Court.
Agulnick, acting for Alyssa Seinden, said: ‘Alyssa has dedicated her career to helping people adopt and this is how she was repaid.’
He added that his client had very little involvement in the case, calling it ‘underhand’ and ‘an abomination’ that she was named in the lawsuit.
Lynell Jeffery was reported in the New York Post as saying: ‘Ellington is a wonderful little boy, but this has been hard.’
Britvan's lawyer, Caryn Lilling, added: ‘This case was thrown out in Indiana, and it will be thrown out here as well.’
11 comments:
Love to see Britvan put out of business. Whenever I have written about adoption issues for Newsday, and I wrote four or five pieces for Newsday over the years, Britvan was always replying in the most vile way. I believe he himself is an adoptive father, and for a while at least he was the head of the some division of the bar association that included adoption.
I'd love to see his ass in jail, but that will never happen.
Lorraine from First Mother Forum
Yes Lorraine, Britvan is an adoptive father who once told Joe Soll that he knows what it is like to be adopted because he is an adoptive father! By that analogy I know what's like to have a penis, since I've 'had" one or two!
Lots of people praying this destroys him!
How wonderful for the child to know his "parents" wouldn't have wanted him if they had known he was defective merchandise. He certainly must feel secure in that family. Ha.
Well, if this case "destroys" the person who performed the adoption because the aparents win... that sets a pretty foul precedent for adoptees rights. Next you know, they'll try to give the child to the state for care and wash their hands of him.
Interesting that so many aparents would "choose differently"... considering original families have no choice who is born to them, and surely many adoptees would have chosen different aparents if they had been given a choice in the matter. The only people who seem to matter in this equation are the aparents. Sad.
I don;t see what it has to do with adoptee rights in terms of access to OBC.
And this is not the first case f its kind. It's called 'wrongful adoption" and adoption agencies have been sued before. The first reported successful case of wrongful adoption occurred in 1986 in Burr v. Board of County Commissioners of Stark County in Ohio. read this case and others here:
encyclopedia.adoption.com/entry/wrongful-adoption/
wow as an adopitve mom I am shocked to read this doesnt anyone care about the kids.I owldn't wan to see anyone in jail nor blame anyone.I am an adopitve mom with a loving heart. its all about the children all the law stuff, cases blah blah its about being a family!! no matter how you got there! I am blessed by adoption and so is my wonderful son!
"its about being a family!! no matter how you got there!":
With all due respect, it is attitudes like this that tune a blind eye that allow for kidnapping, stealing and trafficking of children for adoption.
It is for the well being of all parties - most of all the children - that we need to get rid of the bad apples. Britvan is rotten to the core.
Children and their families by birth and adoption deserve better that people who will sell them to the highest bidder or whomever pays what they demand.
see why turn it around like that .. I didnt mean no matter how you got there in a sense of buying I meant we are family threw adoption and we are a family no matter adoption or bio ! reading this website makes me feel because we have adopted we should be ashamed of it and we arent a family we are! You don't know my process to adopt and the reason's thats my son's story and when he is ready its for him to share its about the children! dont suggest I mean buying selling or whatever your referring to with an attny its about the children!
I am sorry you feel that way. Fact is this is not about YOU at all, so I don;t know about you or your family and have said nothing about you or them.
This is a post about notorious baby broker sbeing sued. If you are not a baby broker or someone suing one, this has ntohing to do with you or any other adoptitve parents or fmailies.
But do not tell me it doesn't matter how you get ther ebacuse it does. It matters very much! "The story" you tell your son amy or may not be the truth of HIS story and his original family's story. This is not calling YOU a liar,. it is to say that in MANY cases, adoption agencies tell you what you want to hear and give you "a stroy" that may or may not be true.
If you doubt me, please read about people who were deceived by adoption agencies they thought above reproach:
Orphaned or Stolen: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/schuster-institute-for-investigative-journalism/orphaned-or-stolen-the-us_b_825451.html
Duped by Indian adoption agency, US family cautions couples
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/Duped-by-Indian-adoption-agency-US-family-cautions-couples/articleshow/5964751.cms
Read Julia Rollings story at: http://bittersweet-story.blogspot.com/
Read also: The Lie We Love by E.J.Graff
www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2008/10/.../the_lie_we_love -
The works of David Smolin on child trafficking: works.bepress.com/david_smolin/1/
This case has been dismissed in NY as well, as a matter of fact, it never even made it to trial!!
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