A man known as the “Christmas Lawyer” was looking at potentially owing an obscene amount of cash over a lawsuit that he had previously won concerning a holly jolly Christmas display that was also part of a project to raise funds for childhood cancer. The Supreme Court heard the case, but punted it over to the appellate court. Things were looking rather grim for a time, but then, in a true Christmas miracle, the whole situation turned around.
Jeremy Morris, an attorney from Idaho, sat down for an interview with the media to discuss how he put together creative holiday displays in an act of rebellion against his former homeowner’s association (HOA), which ultimately resulted in a massive legal battle. A judge overturned the case after Morris was initially awarded $75,000 in 2019. The “Christmas Lawyer” took the fight to the Ninth Circuit in an appeal filed the following year.
The case ended up before the Supreme Court. However, the highest court in the land decided this was a matter for the appellate court to handle. After it was kicked back to the lower court, the HOA reached a settlement with Morris, leaving him the clear victor in the case. “They (HOA) ended up paying us significantly more, ironically, than the jury awarded us many years ago. The jury previously awarded us $75,000 (in 2019), and I will tell you that we actually settled for significantly more than $75,000,” Morris recounted in an interview.
According to Fox News, rather than enduring another trial, mediation took place between the HOA and Morris because the association realized that the lawyer would simply keep appealing. Morris then revealed that the HOA, which he jokingly refers to as “grinches,” likely paid well over a million dollars in attorney fees in order to have the $75,000 verdict overturned, which then turned into them paying Morris more than the jury originally awarded him.
So what has Morris decided to do with the money he’s been paid? He’s decided to use the cash to help spread even more Christmas cheer, refusing to allow those who attempted to stop him from his original intended goal to get what they wanted. “Well, I can tell you that I’m buying a lot of Christmas lights, and I’m enjoying it every time that I screw in a light bulb. I think of my HOA and their effort to shut down Christmas,” he told Fox.
Morris went on to reveal that while his family still owns the home in Idaho, they were “forced to quietly leave and go east due to death threats.” He added, “After talking to my children and supporters from around the globe — and they have encouraged me to use some of the HOAs money to host an even bigger Christmas show, and in a neighborhood that embraces Christmas. I would never again try to spread Christmas cheer to hateful people. They don’t deserve my Christmas fun. But I’ll be doing it with their money. #winning.”
He then explained, “The evil done by the federal judge has been undone and our family’s right to celebrate Christmas through this ministry has been vindicated. As this court order against us was only just lifted after 6 years, we focused on decorating with 14 Christmas trees and an indoor winter wonderland. But our children’s wait to see camels and choirs in our yard again is not long in coming!”
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Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video