So if I have this correct, Theodore Pinnock is an attorney who takes a weekend trip to Julian and decides to sue 67 businesses for violations of the American Disabilities Act. What, he didn't like the pie and cider?

Pinnock is just another example of the legal breed that goes around exploiting the legal system for their own financial gain. In doing so he not only hurts the businesses that he sues, but the people who pay for the cost of these frivolous lawsuits in the end —— you and me.

The way Pinnock is doing this is perfectly legal under the ADA: Find a problem as defined by the ADA, threaten legal action in order to rectify the problem, and accept payments by the intended defendants to avoid a trial.

This was very similar to the way the Trevor Law Group operated in Los Angeles. By contending that businesses violated the Unfair Competition Law, Business and Professions Code Section 17200, the Trevor Law Group sued thousands of businesses. The fact that many of the businesses were owned by non-English speaking people translated into many successful settlements for Trevor and untold millions of dollars in legal fees.

Trevor was finally put out of business by the state which, in the ultimate irony, sued Trevor for violating the very same Section 17200.

But unfortunately for those business owners in Julian, there won't be a state attorney general coming to their rescue. In the end they will probably have to pay Pinnock his money or take the chance of being sued. Not even counting legal fees, this can be a costly proposition. In fact Pinnock has already confirmed that 11 businesses have agreed to settle his claims.

Although one can make a case that the ADA has brought a lot of good for disabled people, these lawsuits are the unforeseen byproduct of lousy legislation. The ADA was supposed to open up society to disabled people, not become an ATM for attorneys like Pinnock. But that is exactly what Pinnock has turned the ADA into, regardless of what organizations such as Protection and Access Inc. says.

By filing 67 lawsuits as a result of a weekend visit to Julian, Pinnock is telling me that he is out there trolling for legal business. How many businesses did Pinnock have to visit in order to find these 67 that are in violation of the ADA? This lawyer is certainly not a human rights crusader out there making sure that the disabled are not discriminated against.

Currently Pinnock is suing for what appears to be an average of $2,500 per business. Let's see, 67 times $2,500 gets you $167,500. Settle for one-third and you end up with just more than $50,000. Not bad for a weekend's work.

Somehow with that kind of money involved, my hunch is that Pinnock is out for the cash as opposed to making sure some pie shop has a counter that is not too high or a restaurant's wheelchair ramp is up to code. In the end Pinnock will profit and businesses in California will take another hit.

Mark Mush is a regular columnist for The Californian. E-mail: markwmush@hotmail.com.