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Show r: I i f Ads UFE "33 at even nous 2.4.6,S,10.i2 SEQION MONDAY. APRIL 2, 2007 EDITOR I ill Elyssa Andrus 344-255- 3 eandrusheraldextra.com .Mil j 1 CZD r ; Tribune DAVID , Derek Monroe stands in the Lake County Courthouse in Waukegan, III Monroe holds a pair of eyeglasses lawsuits. In 28 lawsuits, over what many would call trivial matters, he has won eight times. t9s the orinciole StUDlCl that were the subject of one of his many small claims . Courtney Flynn CHICAGO 9 f Chicago man sues the briefs off big businesses in small claims court TRIBUNE When an auto parts shop wouldn't honor his $5 coupon, Derek Monroe sued. After he spent a night in a dirty motel room, he sued. And when his credit card company pestered him with phone calls, he sued once again. Monroe uses small claims lawsuits as his slingshot against Goliath businesses in his battle for better customer service. In 28 lawsuits over what many would call trivial matters Monroe has won eight times. He has lost four times, and 16 cases have been dismissed for various reasons. In 10 of the dismissals, Monroe said he reached deals with the companies and received an apology. The awards are usually small he won $5 plus court costs in the coupon case but it's not the money that matters, said Monroe, it's the principle. "It is about shaming the corporations into doing the right thing," Monroe said. "It's to show them that we as consumers are not sheep." But will Monroe's tactics have any lasting impact? Probably not, say some experts. "nuisance claims" Big corporations face a lot of for small amounts that are easier to settle than to defend with attorneys, experts say. "If he expects to change corporate culture one $50 lawsuit at a time, it's just not going to happen," said Ira Rheingold, executive director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates. "Unless you're really hurting their bottom line, it's not going to make a difference." Monroe knows some companies don't care about his lawsuits. Sometimes they don't even show up to defend high-price- d See SMALL CLAIMS, B2 Eric Idle's musical mined the 'Holy Grail' of comedy Paul Hodqlns THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER A few years ago, Eric Idle had a blinding flash of inspiration about his next career move: He would write a musical. Of course,. Idle is an alumnus of one of the funniest comedy teams Western civilization has ever produced, England's Monty Python's Frying Circus, so the material would have to be hilarious. o In pro"I was playing and I was Mikado,' The duction of said Idle, myself," enjoying realty 63, as he tried to Ignore fans on the busy patio of Studio City coffee This is bar. "One night I thought, " next!' do should I what Idle felt his chances of success Ko-K- were bolstered by the dearth of musical comedy on Broadway and West End stages at the time. "I always thought musical comedy would come back. There were helicopters, levitating mansions, lots of sex everything except what I think the audience loves best, which is comedy." Idle leaned in conspira-toriall"Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber killed It, you know. Yes my own countryman." Idle went to the author of the funniest movie musical he'd ever seen. "I met with Mel Brooks to try and persuade him to let me do (a musical-theater version of) The Producers.' I said, 'I'll play Bloom and you can play Biarystock. We can do It y. See ERIC IDLE, B2 Python member Eric Idle at his favorite neighborhood English pub, the Fox and Hounds, in Studio City, H - vnn Calif. ' M. Ml IORREN .( County Regntw |