Attorneys for JL Kirk & Assocs. contacted Media Bloggers Association attorney Ronald Coleman shortly after receiving his letter stating that the MBA was representing me in this dispute on Thursday afternoon. Both sides expressed their wish to avoid litigation or further aggravation of the situation. JL Kirk’s main concern at the outset was that we communicate their position – which is different from the information originally told to me by a JL Kirk employee – that JL Kirk is not a continuation of the defunct Bernard Haldane company, either in terms of corporate identity or stock ownership, and that JL Kirk’s principal, Kirk Leipzig, is only a former Bernard Haldane employee but did not buy any assets or stock of Bernard Haldane. I can’t vouch for the truth of that statement because I have no first-hand knowledge of the facts, but evidently anyone who wants more information can obtain it from JL Kirk.
As you know if you read their cease and desist letter, the company disagrees with what I have said about them here, but they have told the MBA lawyer that they are interested in discussing this with my husband and me personally rather than litigating in court. I have not decided if I am interested in talking, but I don’t mind the idea of putting this behind me and moving on, and will not write on this topic again.
Me and Mr. Smiff loved the article in the City Paper. Heh heh. You are so famous.
[…] On The Kirking? Katherine Coble about the situation regarding JL Kirk. Attorneys for JL Kirk & Assocs. contacted Media Bloggers Association attorney Ronald Coleman […]
Hmm. If he didn’t buy assets or stock or continue the business (ack! hell! we’re going to inherit BH lawsuits!…now it becomes clear why bricks were shit over this), why are all his offices in exactly the same location as the old BH offices and why do they pursue such surprisingly similar business plans? You’d think as a former employee of BH seeking to go out on his own, Leipzig would have thought that one through a little. But I guess people will have to make up their own minds about the truthiness of JL Kirk and its employees.
[…] Just Another Pretty Farce indeed! […]
[…] Katherine Coble has posted what will be her last entry on the JL Kirk Associates lawsuit drama: Attorneys for JL Kirk & Assocs. contacted Media Bloggers Association attorney Ronald Coleman shortly after receiving his letter stating that the MBA was representing me in this dispute on Thursday afternoon. Both sides expressed their wish to avoid litigation or further aggravation of the situation. … As you know if you read their cease and desist letter, the company disagrees with what I have said about them here, but they have told the MBA lawyer that they are interested in discussing this with my husband and me personally rather than litigating in court. I have not decided if I am interested in talking, but I don’t mind the idea of putting this behind me and moving on, and will not write on this topic again. […]
I will tell you what I think of all this in person, though in the main I’m a big fan of letting things like this go away.
Is the JL Kirk Situation Resolved?
According to this post on Katherine Coble’s blog Just Another Pretty Farce, the JL Kirk Associates situation may be coming to a close soon. She says that neither side is interested in litigation, and they do not want the situation
Glad this seems to be getting worked out, for your continued sanity at any rate. Sorry the lawyers had to get involved.
[…] its legal team know about their unhappiness through a flood of e-mails. The story appears to have a relatively happy ending for the blogger, Kate Coble: Attorneys for JL Kirk & Assocs. contacted Media Bloggers […]
Sounds like a happy ending for all. I’m really glad you didn’t give ino their bullying tatics though. I suspect if they’d just come to you in the first place with the issues you note in the post (instead of threatening to to sue you), this would have all been resolved much more quickly and easily.
Don’t sit down with them, remember how they treated you?!!! Take them to court and sue THEM for all they’re worth! Shut JL Kirk down!!! Now is not the time to cower under the umbrella of civility, now is when you show them what your really made of!
Definitely the Christian thing to do. Way to go Kat.
[Sigh of relief]
(hopefully not premature)
[…] Kirk and Associates have backed off. I haven’t covered this story, until now, but seeing there’s been an update, I thought […]
This issue will fade away from the blogosphere and JL Kirk and Associates will be able to continue with business as usual?
[…] not have their company misrepresented by their mentally challenged employee who left a message on Katherine Coble’s blog. JL Kirk’s main concern at the outset was that we communicate their position – which is different […]
TO: Katherine Coble
RE: No Mo!
“I have not decided if I am interested in talking, but I don’t mind the idea of putting this behind me and moving on, and will not write on this topic again.” — Katherine Coble
Do what you gotta do. However, I suspect we’re going to have to hear from you, directly or indirectly/one-way or another, regarding this matter.
The point being that we need ‘closure’ on this end.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[Nothing is done until the paperwork is completed.]
Dear Katherine,
I fully understand and support your desire to get closure on this. However, I see NO reason why you should “sit down” with them. Nothing you wrote was inflammatory or libelous. It was instead a reasonable negative review of your experience with them.
If they want to respond to your evaluation, let them get their own forum. I don’t feel you have any moral obligation to say more to or about them.
You wrote about your perceptions in a clear and measured manner. It was perfectly in your rights to honestly relate those perceptions. Their reaction to your statements was wrong on so many levels.
All they owe you in response is a heartfelt apology for their despicable misapplication of the law.
John
Good show, Kat. Good show.
Please do NOT sit down and talk with them–have no further communication whatsoever. Ignore all pleas for a “sit-down.” Do no respond in any way. Do not go near them or give them anything they can “quote” or “cite”. They would love to try to embroil you further, where they hope they can come out more ahead–or at least give that impression. Stay away!
Kat, I don’t think that the attorneys for JL Kirk are telling the complete truth. In 2002 the Seattle Times reported that Kirk Leipzig bought the licenses for the Bernard Haldane offices in Bellevue, Washington and Tacoma, Washington. Leipzig may not have bought Bernard Haldane assets in Tennessee, but he did buy Bernard Haldane assets in the state of Washington. Here is the URL for that Seattle Times story:
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=counselors22&date=20020922&query=Bernard+Haldane
IMHO, the only person who should be sitting down with the JL Kirk attorneys is your attorney because another attorney would not be so easily misled by any legalese BS.
If you do meet with those attorneys, then ask them to explain what the Seattle Times reported in 2002, because that newspaper story connects Kirk Leipzig to Bernard Haldane.
I would sit down with them….listed to what they have to say. And speak only when they have made their best offer to end this.
Just a 15-min. chat in the conference room. Just don’t sign anything until your lawyer reads it first. Then walk out, knowing that you WON.
As it stands now, you’re the heroine and their the ogres. The whole country knows this. Congratulations.
Do NOT agree to meet them unless you have a lawyer with you. That just gives them ammo and gives you nothing.
Tell them to WRITE everything and send it to you. Make it clear that whatever they write will be sent to the MBA lawyer for his input. Lawyers, and sleazy clients, hate to have a paper trail unless their positon is rock solid.
Bring a lawyer.
Tell them to refund you the $5000 and then you will be happy.
[…] JL Kirk Resolution Attorneys for JL Kirk & Assocs. contacted Media Bloggers Association attorney Ronald Coleman shortly after receiving […] […]
To those who are worried that this whole incident will just fade away and JL Kirk will go back to business as usual, there’s a very simple answer: Don’t worry.
All you have to do is search on “JL Kirk” or JL Kirk & Associates” and you’ll see page after Google page of links to blog comments about this incident and JL Kirk’s tactics. All the favorable astroturf links to JL Kirk which previously dominated the search results are now buried amongst the heavy criticism.
Anyone who is invited to an employment interview at JL Kirk and who bothers to do even a cursor Internet search to check them out will be very hesitant to pursue further contacts. And if they do go to an interview, they will be much better prepared to ask questions and resist any psychological pressures which are brought to bear.
JL Kirk’s bullying tactics will have a profound and long-term negative impact on their bottom line, if indeed the company even survives the bad publicity. Don’t be surprised if they follow the path of Bernard Haldane into extinction, and a new company name appears on the doors of all the same old offices.
Meanwhile, there’s no reason for Katherine to pursue this any further. She will not be sued and she will not have to take her posts down, despite the original cease and desist letter. She is victorious. Whether or not she decides to talk to them seems rather irrelevant, since I’m pretty sure she is not about to recant her criticisms. They backed down from their real demand, and now are just trying to make a face-saving retreat.
So congratulations, Katherine, on successfully calling their hand. And congratulations to everyone in the blogosphere who supported her in the confrontation.
What I nice job you have done in maintaining your dignity throughout this whole ordeal. Kudos! Kirk has had a couple of months to “sit down and discuss” with you their concerns and it seems they have no one but themselves to blame if that window of opportunity is closed. You can hold your head high and walk away with everyone’s respect now if you want.
Now that’s what I call a Mazel Tov cocktail!
How did they even find out about you blogging about them?
Kat, don’t do anything with them – sit, speak, or write – without your attorney! And if they ever contact you directly, and not through your attorney, now that they’ve been notified you have representation, that is a big, big, BIG red flag! That is a massive legal no-no.
I’m assuming that when the company says that they’re interested in talking with you and your husband directly, they DO mean “with your attorney present.” Because there is no way on earth it should happen without your attorney. Oh, and what Sparky says! Because if it isn’t on paper, it doesn’t exist.
(Although, in truth, my preference is for what John Ford said, because you didn’t do anything wrong, and there is still the whole scary issue of the right of the individual to state an opinion on something that transpired in his/her own life.)
[…] at Just Another Pretty Farce, Nashville blogger Katherine Coble reports settlement of what was shaping up to be a nasty legal […]
I’m not buying it.
JL Kirk has still not gotten the message. Instead of actually addressing the issues raised by Katherine Coble, they are now shifting to the time-honored tactic of “discussing the matter privately” with the Cobles.
JL Kirk is still denying the charges made by Coble, so I’m not buying the idea that the private discussion is anything other than a way to keep the pressure on the Cobles without having the blogosphere listening in.
[…] and the Nashville City Paper report that Katherine Coble has reached an agreement with J.L. Kirk in its threatened defamation lawsuit. I predicted this last week, but it […]
I know this issue has been resolved and is not really being discussed much anymore. However, did anyone ever post a comment identifying the February 7, 2007 press release by the Office of the Attorney General (Tennessee)? In that press release, which can be found here- http://www.attorneygeneral.state.tn.us/press/2007/story/PR9.pdf, the Attorney General specifically warns consumers of scams surprisingly similar to J.L. Kirk’s business model.
OK, that link above didn’t work, but you can get there by going to the Press Release section of the AG’s website and finding the February 7, 2007 release.
[…] is changing how journalists interact with the public (and vice versa), and I’ve seen what Katherine Coble and an army of angry bloggers can do. I still think the “ink by the barrel” wisdom […]
[…] is changing how journalists interact with the public (and vice versa), and I’ve seen what Katherine Coble and an army of angry bloggers can do. I still think the “ink by the barrel” wisdom […]
Thank you for the information. I recently recevied an offer from JLK-A and was in the process of my 2nd meeting. While going to the meeting, I called up another headhunter I’ve been dealing with and she read me the article from the city paper.
When I got to the office, the person I was to talk with was 15 minutes late and a gentleman walked in and sit down. Looking a bit desheveled, he asked if I were a client of JLK as well, and when I said no, he replied “Good luck, I’ve been here for a year and have yet to get the first interview”. He then proceeded with “you know 2400.00$ is alot of money to pay for this service” I responded, “2400.00$!!!!, are you serious?” Yes he said, and “I’m very dissapointed”. At that point, I said “Well, I believe I’ll be pro-active and LEAVE NOW”. Which is exactly what I did.
You need to keep this up, and even call the I-Team to expose this. Taking money from folks who are down on their luck is a bad deal.
Thanks again.
go to ripoffreport.com and read complaints
go to ripoffreport.com and get an former insider’s account
I you want a nice resume, a few mock interviews, a few tips on getting an informational interview(that you can read about in any book). Than JL Kirk is the place for you. It will cost you thousands of dollars, though. If you are expecting to get contacts or face time with decision makers that they know and will arange for you, this will not happen. They will however claim this (verbally)during your second meeting in which they will charge you. They will not deliver on their promises. Their word is not worth anything and they cannot be trusted. Beware of this organization. This has been one of the worst (most costly)mistakes I have ever made.
Sorry I made a couple grammer errors in the previous comment. I was writing with emotion. “I” should be “if” and “Than” should be “Then”.
I wish you all the best. Please consider my warning.
My husband “Ken” is a client at JL Kirk. He went to one interview by himself. At that interview Connie asked him to bring me for a second meeting with Karen. This meeting went really well. The first thing I noticed when we sat down was that they had “The Fish” radio playing in the background. When they told us what JL stood for we felt really good about the company. They went on to tell us…. They had contacts, and would get Ken in front of the decision-makers. CONTACTS WERE EXACTLY WHAT WE NEEDED!!!! The fee was expensive but we still thought it was the best way to go.
Ken got a good resume. But now months later, we have been told (by Rich), the money was really for the process they were teaching Ken. The idea of the “informational interview” can be found in a book for $12.
They have no contacts and Ken has been left on his own to look for contacts. THE EXACT THING WE WERE TOLD JL KIRK HAD AND THE EXACT THING WE NEEDED.
JL Kirk’s business practices teeter on the edge of being legal, but have fallen off the edge of ethical. If any concerns are brought into the office, Rich (Kirk’s brother) becomes very defensive, arrogant, and condescending. His response and behavior made us realize our concerns were true. All that glitters is not gold. I hope no one else gets burned by JL Kirk’s dishonesty and they quickly go out of business.
Executive Professionals, LLC in California looks a lot like JL Kirk. Interesting
Avoid this company like the plague. I spent over $4,000 with them. They helped me put together a nice resume, prepped me with a few mock interviews, and told me how to make cold calls and unsolicited visits to companies. This would have been a good service for maybe $400, but not $4,000plus. Why did I pay for this service? Simple they told me that they would provide contacts and get me in front of decision makers. Once they had my money, they acted as if they had never claimed this. You be the judge, Do you think I or anyone else would have agreed to spend $4k for only the service provided? I know what I was told and this seems to be the status quo with this firm. They use very unethical tactics and flat out lie about the service they will provide to deceive the down and out. They do this in the name of Christianity. They say they are members of Cornerstone Community Church in Nashville. I am a Christian and this experience has made me sick. I am still out of work and struggling to make contacts. I have to pray daily for the strength to forgive. I also pray that others will not be hurt by this business. Beware, read the fine print. Don’t trust what they say.
It looks like JL Kirk is now called Transition America.
that’s why it will never wor. Zaid Bethanie.
it was back in 99, watching movies all the tim. Joey Hadassah.
JL Kirk and Associates is a horrible, horrible company that is like so many others, just out to make tons of money not caring who they hurt. If you google Kirk Leipzig, it looks like he’s found another way to make money….and it even says…..this way is perfect for someone “with a lack of emotion”. Well that’s Kirk for sure. I can see Kirk fitting in quite nicely in the real estate industry. Their are some great, honest people in real estate but let’s face it…..many in the industry are greedy people out for a buck. That’s Kirk for sure. I hope he can take all his money when he goes. He sure won’t have anyone to leave it to.
thank you very good…