Document zrbJg2OyNV7J7nwENeyg5bGR

SL - 5- 1916- 3 5 S ' S t a n d a r d Oi e Co m pa n y o f Ne w J e r s e y KmvTNr S.Ha l z . Fu a n k S.P e r r y Ge o r g e II.To tv e r Wi l l i a m L.St e p h e n s 2 6 B r q a d \ o t ; e w Y orek Hubbard v s; S tan d ard May 9 1935 M r, E . T . Webb E thyl G asoline C orporation 135 last ^2n& Street New Y o rk City- D ear Mr. W ebb:- My f i l e t e l l s me M r. Dodge k e p t y o u c l o s e l y in fo r m e d c o n c e r n in g th is case w hile the e a rly p la n s f o r ou r defense were b ein g developed. I t i s p ro b a b le th e c a se w i l l be t r i e d a t th e term o f c o u rt commencing Ju n e 2 d . I t may b e th e f i r s t c a s e re a c h e d f o r t r i a l . Mr, H erbert, a s s o c ia te d w ith th e d e fe n s e , r e c e n tl y m et Mr, T is o n , one o f p l a i n t i f f . i s c o u n s e l, and d u rin g a g e n e ra l c o n v e rs a tio n t h i s case was m en tio n ed . The q u e s tio n o f p o s s ib le s e ttle m e n t came u p and Mr. H e rb e rt a sk e d Mr. T iso n i f th ey c a re d to subm it any f ig u r e s . Mr. T ison s a id th ey w ould n o t s e t t l e f o r much l e s s th a n $ 2 5 ,0 0 0 . and Mr. H e rb e rt t o ld him t h a t was o u t o f th e q u e s tio n , th a t th e to p f ig u r e he w ould be even w illin g to c o n sid e r would be $ 1 2 ,0 0 0 . to $ 1 5 ,0 0 0 . Mr. T is on s a i d h e th o u g h t th a t was e n t i r e l y to o low b u t he w ould ta lk t a n d M r. E dens, h is a s s o c ia te in th e c a se . He saw Mr H e r b e r t a g a i n l a s t w eek a n d s a i d t h e y w ere l o a t h e to go b e lo w $ 25, 000. b u t w o u ld p r o b a b l y c o n s id e r a n am ount fro m $20, 000. t o $ 25, 000. !j?his i s t h e f i r s t tim e th e q u e s tio n o f s e t t l e m e n t h a s b e e n d i s c u s s e d . I t was Mr. H e r b e rt's r e a c tio n th a t th e c a se co u ld be s e t t l e d f o r $ 1 8 ,0 0 0 . Our e x p e r i e n c e w i t h S o u th C a r o l i n a l i t i g a t i o n m akes me f e a r t h a t i f we s e t t l e t h i s c a s e f o r a n y s u b s t a n t i a l a m o u n t, we w i l l b e c o n f r o n te d w ith more c a se s, o f t h i s ty p e . They a re e x tre m e ly d i f f i c u l t c a s e s t o d e f e n d . I am i n c l i n e d to b e l i e v e we h a v e g o t t o ta k e o u r c h a n c e s w ith m aking a s u c c e s s f u l d e f e n s e . I t h i n k we s h o u ld r e f r a i n from s e t t l i n g the c a se , a t l e a s t f o r any amount in ex cess o f th e c o st o f t r i a l . Your f u tu r e m arket may b e a f f e c te d by o u r d e c is io n . There f o r e . I w ould l ik e to know i f you sh a re my v iew s. ESH ME