Lindsay’s lawyer pushes onward

Lindsay Lohan’s lawyer, after doing so well for her during the DUI hearings, has now pushed forward with the 2005 car crash.

Lindsay Lohan’s lawyer filed a 10-page brief last Friday in a move to dismiss all or part of the negligence suit against her for the Oct 4, 2005 car crash. The owner of the van, Ortega, hit claims that Lindsay was drunk - Lindsay’s lawyers are countering, saying that the man is calling her drunk in order to force a settlement. Just like Ortega’s lawyers are trying to call the police report "heresay."

Ortega sued Lohan and West Hollywood hotspot the Ivy on June 14 for at least $200,000 in damages, alleging in his complaint that the Georgia Rule star got tipsy during lunch at the celebrity watering hole and then, as she was looking over her shoulder and recklessly barreling north on Robertson Blvd., smashed into his vehicle with her Mercedes.

"These are nothing but inflammatory statements," Gerisch’s brief states. "The mere presence of this type of allegation in the complaint is an attempt to embarrass [Lohan] with false allegations in order to use it as a battering ram to force a settlement."

Once again, Gerisch cites the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s report on the incident, which states that alcohol was not a factor in the crash and that Ortega was at fault for hooking an illegal U-turn right in front of Lohan, who was referred to as an "innocent victim" at the time.

Ortega’s attorney, Robert G. Klein, has criticized Gerisch for using the police report as so-called evidence, calling the document hearsay. Klein stated in a recent court filing that he has witnesses who will testify that Lohan was speeding and was served alcohol "shortly before the accident."