Park Cities People – July 2016

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DALLAS APPROVES FIFTH SCHOOL; HPISD SLATES UP ELEMENTARY FIRST FOR DEMO 11

JULY 2016 I Vol. 36, No. 7 I parkcitiespeople.com I    @pcpeople I 214-739-2244

Diamond Doctor Fights Claims of Over-Grading NASHVILLE LAWYER WAGES AD CAMPAIGN

DINING Street’s Fine Chicken serves up clucking good dishes 17

By Britt E. Stafford

People Newspapers University Park-based wholesale jeweler Diamond Doctor has earned a lot of free press over the past eight months. But ask owner and Preston Hollow resident David Blank, and he’ll tell you “any publicity is good publicity” doesn’t apply here. In October, Nashville-based lawyer Brian Manookian launched the websites diamonddoctorlawsuit.com and dallasdiamonddoctorclassaction.com in an attempt to solicit former Diamond Doctor customers who believe they were sold over-graded diamonds to sue the jeweler. And while Diamond Doctor did sell diamonds graded by EGL International — an Israeli diamond-grading laboratory that shut down in 2014 because of claims of inconsistent grading standards — Blank says he has done nothing wrong. Diamond Doctor sells both jewelry and loose diamonds. According to Blank, when a customer makes a purchase, they receive a certificate from the independent grading laboratory marking the diamond's grade. “Diamond Doctor is not the EGL, GIA, or any other rating agency," Blank confirmed. "We disclosed the certificates to the customer at the time of sale and priced them accordingly. We offer a life-

SPORTS Fish Tale: Jones still passionate about reeling them in 14

Preston Road wholesale jeweler Diamond Doctor faces off against Nashville lawyer Brian Manookian. || C O U R T E SY P H O T O S

T H E PA R T I E S

David Blank

Brian Manookian

time trade-in guarantee." While Blank claims Manookian is solely after a paycheck, Ma-

nookian argues he is trying to do a service for the consumers who bought over-graded diamonds. In response to the accusations, Blank has filed several lawsuits against Manookian, Brian Cummings, and their law firm Cummings Manookian PLC for charges including racketeering, extortion, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, barratry, appropriation of name and likeness, and libel. According to Manookian, Blank’s lawyers contacted Manookian not long after the sites went online.

“Within hours I had gotten a number of voicemails threatening to sue me,” he said. Manookian and the Cummings Manookian firm filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit Diamond Doctor filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in February arguing, “This is merely the latest round in The Diamond Doctor’s ongoing campaign to intimidate Brian Manookian and his law firm … for their efforts to expose The Diamond Doctor’s

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LIVING WELL Snider Plaza chiropractors cater to kids 22

SCHOOLS

FOCUS ON PHILANTHROPY

COMMUNITY

Soldiers and Sailors: HPHS alumni graduate from academies 12

Equal Heart brings meals to hungry homes across Dallas 19

UP resident goes from tech to chef on Gordon Ramsay’s MasterChef 37


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Park Cities People – July 2016 by People Newspapers - Issuu