Lawyer Sues Everyone for Defamation

Posted on May 13, 2011 by Tom Crane

About a month ago, a lawyer in Washington DC represented a man charged with a felony. Apparently, the lawyer ran into some problems.  The judge berated him for being inexperienced and unprepared for the case.  A private investigator claimed that the lawyer told him to trick a witness into testifying that she did not see the defendant at the murder scene.  The judge declared a mistrial. The incident became the subject of a Washington Post story.  The story ran in the ABA Bar Journal. Several legal blogs discussed it.  

Well, now that lawyer, Joseph Rakofsky, has sued everyone involved.  He has filed suit in New York Superior court against the Washington Post, the ABA Bar Journal and dozens of lawyers who dared to discuss his case in public.  See Petition here.  Mr. Rakofsky was a 2009 graduate of Touro Law School.  Perhaps, some law school snobbery was at play here.  In any event, he was much criticized in the blogosphere.  He sued persons such as J-Dog84@yahoo.com, Accident Lawyer, Thomson Reuters, the large legal publishing firm, Tarrant84, the University of St. Thomas Law School, and other more traditional defendants.  He sued some 74 defendants, all apparently because they criticized him and, as he alleged, repeated mis-statements about his felony case.  These defendants reside and work in many different states and the District of Columbia.   The petition is some 70 pages long with few details regarding the alleged defamation by the 74 defendants.  The petition mostly contains ample detail explaining why he did what he did during the trial. 

Blogging is still a new creature.  Many still confuse a blog with a news source.  We do not report news.  We comment on the news.  My comment regarding this suit is he must have a large budget for effecting service on Defendants.....

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Texas Lawyer Sues over Rights to Web Address

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Tom Crane

A Lubbock, Texas lawyer has filed suit against against the Texas Department of Insurance, Worker's Compensation Division because the Texas Dept. of Insurance sent him a "cease and desist" letter.  The TDI had sent John Gibson a letter warning him to stop using the words "Texas" and "worker's compensation" in the web address.  Mr. Gibson operates a web site called www.texasworkerscomplaw.com.  The TDI accused Mr. Gibson of violating a provision of the Texas Labor Code which prohibits use of the words "texas" and "workers compensation" in connection with advertising and solicitation for business.  In his lawsuit, Mr. Gibson argues this provision is unconstitutional as a violation of the First Amendment.  See Texas Lawyer report.  

I am sure that provision must date from the bad ole days of workers compensation litigation, which at one time was lucrative.  Workers compensation was the subject of much advertising as late as the 1980's prior to so-called tort reform.  Now, very few lawyers practice workers compensation law.  More importantly, blogs have been seen by most observers as not advertising and more as an educational tool.  For example, law firm news letters are exempt from the advertising rules because they are seen as more educational than solicitations for business. This will be an interesting lawsuit as it explores the nature of blogs. 

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Blog Entry Leads to Request for New Trial

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Tom Crane

It was a difficult case, even heart-wrenching.  A policeman had rushed to a low priority call and had accidentally struck and killed another San Antonio police officer.  See San Antonio Express News report.  The policeman in a hurry was David Seaton. Proceeding at 100 mph without lights or siren on, he ran a red light and struck another vehicle.   The collision seriously imnjured the other driver and another San Antonio Police Officer, Robert Davis.  Officer Davis was working an earlier auto collison.  Mr. Seaton also suffered injuries in the crash.  

Eventually, he was convicted of assault and manslaughter.  The trial was emotional.  The presiding judge described it as one of the most traumatic cases he had ever presided over.  And, apparently, the jury foreperson wrote about it on her blog.  The defense lawyers sought a new trial, saying Ms. Grennes had a political agenda and that she had hidden her self-employment (ie, the blog).  The foreperson denied any political agenda and said her blog only gets 13 hits a day.  She did not mention her self-employment and the blog because she did not think it important to jury service. 

Mr. Seaton's defense lawyers learned about the blog entry and investigated the foreperson.  She said she was contacted by someone claiming to be a college student researching the trial. The forepeson, Pamela Grennes, later learned that the alleged student was a private investigator.  The defense lawyers filed a motion seeking a new trial.  During testimony, Ms. Grennes told the defense lawyer she deleted the posts about the trial because she felt threatened by the defense lawyers.  The judge denied the motion for new trial. 

Yes, blog entries do affect trial outcomes. 

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No Fury Like a Former Employee Scorned

Posted on August 18, 2010 by Tom Crane

So, you get angry with your employer.  They fire you.  You want to get back at them for what "they" did to you.  Most people start thinking lawsuit.  Not Edward Harrington.  He decided to start a blog complaining about his former employer, Levinson Axelrod, a prominent New Jersey law firm.  He started a blog called "Levinson Axelrod Really Sucks."  He celebrated their losses.  He pointed barbed comments at the mustache of a partner.  He encouraged others to file ethical complaints against the firm. 

The firm eventually sued the errant former associate based on the Lanham Act and Anti-Cyber Squatting Consumer Protection Act.  The suit apparently faced a difficult challenge.  To win, the firm would have to show that Mr. Heyburn was profiting somehow from his blog.  But, Mr. Harrington denied any profits.  So, the parties reached a settlement in which the young blogger agreed to take down his blog.  See report.  

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