Former MLB All-Star outfieder Lenny Dykstra has filed new court papers seeking insurance information from the law firm of Galanter & Associates and attorney Douglas Galanter, having previously sued both defendants for at least $500,000 in damages concerning a previous legal matter in which they represented him.
The 60-year-old Dykstra was born in Santa Ana, grew up in Garden Grove and played for the New York Mets — with whom he won a World Series in 1986 — and the Philadelphia Phillies.
Dykstra is acting as his own lawyer in the current lawsuit. He filed a sworn declaration on Friday with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Theresa Traber in support of his motion to obtain — within 20 days of a court order — the name and policy number of the law firm’s insurance carrier as well as the policy limits.
A hearing is scheduled Monday.
“The reason I need the court to grant this order is so that I can notify the defendant’s insurance carrier of this action … giving the insurance carrier an opportunity to settle this case for policy limits rather than proceed with a jury trial of a defenseless case,” Dykstra says.
In the suit filed Feb. 14, Dykstra alleges that the law firm failed to adequately handle an earlier legal matter and did not keep him informed. The lawsuit does not give specifics on the previous litigation.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office previously filed a notice of lien within the first suit seeking restitution the office says Dykstra owes as part of his 2012 sentencing in a bankruptcy fraud case.
Federal prosecutors maintain that any judgment or settlement Dykstra may obtain in the Galanter case must include a satisfaction of the $153,175 owed as part of the original $200,000 restitution order that was included in the December 2012 sentencing by U.S. District Court Judge Dean Pregerson.
The judge also ordered Dykstra to spend 6 1/2 months in prison for hiding baseball gloves and other heirlooms from his playing days that were supposed to be part of his bankruptcy filing.