Keeping Abreast of Trial: Chicago Lawyer Moves To Exclude Opponent’s “Large Breasted” Assistant

Thomas W. Gooch III of Gauthier & Gooch in Chicago has achieved a degree of national notoriety in a motion to force his opponent Dmitry Feofanov to get rid of a “large breasted woman” who has appeared with him at counsel’s table. Gooch suggests that Feofanov is trying to use something erotic to defeat his client, Exotic Motors. He insists that the woman has no known legal function and is meant to distract the jurors, but Feofanov insists that she is a trained paralegal. The dispute is over the car dealership’s warranty on a used Cadillac.

Here is part of the motion as shown on Jezebel below:

Now Comes your Defendant, Exotic Motors, by and through their attorneys, Gauthier & Gooch, and as for their Motion as aforesaid states to the Court as follows:

1. That Defendant’s counsel is anecdotally familiar with the tactics and theatrics of Plaintiff’s counsel, [redacted]. Such behavior includes having a large breasted woman sit next to him at counsel’s table during the course of the trial. There is no evidence whatsoever that this woman has any legal training whatsoever, and the sole purpose of her presence at Plaintiff’s Counsel’s table is to draw the attention of the jury away from the relevant proceedings before this court, obviously prejudicing the Defendant’s in this or any other cause. Until it is shown that this woman has any sort of legal background, she should be required to sit in the gallery with the rest of the spectators and be barred from sitting at counsel’s table during the course of this trial.

I am not sure of the proper term for such a motion but a motion in limine Lingerie would appear the closest option. This Dolly Parton motion has little chance of success unless judges want to start setting guidelines on trial-appropriate body ratios. While the firm bills itself as “aggressive litigators,” this may have been a bit too aggressive and suggestive for the tastes of the court.

Source: Jezebelas first seen on ABA Journal