Overlawyered » watch what you say about lawyers

Law firm sues over poor Better Business Bureau rating

Walter Olson — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:06:20 +0000

“Stung by a dismal mark last year, the KEL law firm has filed a federal lawsuit against the Better Business Bureau of Central Florida that challenges its rating system, accuses it of false advertising and seeks unspecified damages for alleged business defamation.” The firm of Kaufman, Englett and Lynd contends the BBB’s evaluations are misleading, biased, erroneous and otherwise flawed. [Orlando Sentinel]

Law firm sues over poor Better Business Bureau rating is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Law School Sues Law Firm and Bloggers for Criticizing its Placement Data”

Walter Olson — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 11:37:38 +0000

Watch what you say about lawyers — and now it seems about law schools as well, specifically Michigan’s Thomas M. Cooley Law School. [TaxProf, Above the Law]

Tags: law schools, Michigan, watch what you say about lawyers

“Law School Sues Law Firm and Bloggers for Criticizing its Placement Data” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Lawyer Deemed ‘the Most Worst Attorney’ in Online Rants Can’t Sue, Judge Rules”

Walter Olson — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 16:42:00 +0000

A Suffolk County, N.Y. judge ruled that online gripes about a divorce lawyer were pure opinion. [ABA Journal]

Tags: Long Island, watch what you say about lawyers

“Lawyer Deemed ‘the Most Worst Attorney’ in Online Rants Can’t Sue, Judge Rules” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“1-800-Ask-Gary firm sues lawyers over critical blog”

Walter Olson — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 10:59:12 +0000

“Three lawyers say they were just engaging in legitimate speech about the 1-800-Ask-Gary [lawyer-referral] hot line. Not amused, the people behind Ask Gary sued.” [Tampa Tribune] Separately, the hotline’s founder, Sarasota chiropractor Gary Kompothecras, has drawn press attention for the active role he’s taken in the autism-vaccine wars. [Miami New Times and followups here and here]

Tags: autism, chiropractors, Florida, watch what you say about lawyers

“1-800-Ask-Gary firm sues lawyers over critical blog” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Lawyer’s suit against lawyer-rating service Avvo

Walter Olson — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 05:03:46 +0000

A Florida complainant might wind up digging himself a deeper hole, reputation-wise. [Above the Law]

Tags: pro se, watch what you say about lawyers

Lawyer’s suit against lawyer-rating service Avvo is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Man spends $7,000 defending himself in suit filed by eBay seller”

Walter Olson — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 04:53:24 +0000

Michael Steadman posted a negative review on eBay over a $44 clock that he didn’t think worked as advertised. He’s already spent $7,000 defending himself against the defamation suit filed by the seller, who is a Miami Beach lawyer. [Orlando Sentinel, Obscure Store]

Tags: eBay, libel slander and defamation, watch what you say about lawyers

“Man spends $7,000 defending himself in suit filed by eBay seller” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Troll Tracker blog suit settles

Walter Olson — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:52:57 +0000

As the East Texas jury was set to begin deliberations. Per Joe Mullin’s must-read coverage at IP Law and Business, Rick Frenkel’s lawyer-critical blog is now entirely closed down even to private readers except as an archive for the use of lawyers in the related litigation. More: Mullin, Sept. 18 (Frenkel “wouldn’t have the financial resources to defend himself” had his employer Cisco not covered his legal costs), Sept. 21 (“You don’t wrestle with a snake, you cut its head off,” said plaintiff T. John (“Johnny”) Ward, Jr. “We shut the blog down, is what we did.”)

Tags: bloggers and the law, Eastern District of Texas, Patent Troll Tracker, watch what you say about lawyers

Troll Tracker blog suit settles is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Update: Patent Troll Tracker lawsuit goes to trial

Walter Olson — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:20:06 +0000

Watch what you say about lawyers dept.: a jury will consider the claim of East Texas intellectual property litigator Eric Albritton that he was defamed by Richard Frenkel at his lawyer-critical Patent Troll Tracker blog. The suit also names Frenkel’s employer, Cisco. The blog has “gone private” and is now for invited readers only. [Brenda Sapino Jeffreys, Texas Lawyer] More: AmLaw Daily. Sept. 18: Joe Mullin, IP Law and Business (reporting blog now entirely defunct except as archive for use in defending case).

Tags: bloggers and the law, Patent Troll Tracker, watch what you say about lawyers

Update: Patent Troll Tracker lawsuit goes to trial is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“South Carolina Court Awards $1.8 Million Libel Judgment Against Blogger”

Walter Olson — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:07:12 +0000

Ad agency head Scott Brandon sued Donald Wizeman “claiming that Wizeman was the author of Myrtle Beach Insider and that Wizeman had defamed him by publishing a June 2007 post calling him a ‘failed lawyer’ and criticizing one of his ad agency’s campaigns. Wizeman denied that he was the author of Myrtle Beach Insider, but admitted agreeing with its content.” Note, however, some oddities that make the case far from typical: Wizeman did not hire a lawyer at first and claims to have been unaware of some key proceedings that were decided against him, and the judge awarded summary judgment to the plaintiff, which is extremely unusual in defamation cases. [Sam Bayard, Citizen Media Law; Mike Cherney, Myrtle Beach Sun-News]

P.S. Some commenters are reading the case as one of “defendant doesn’t show up to contest complaint, gets hit with default judgment”; I wasn’t sure from the story (and am still not sure) that the sequence of events was that cut and dried. Obviously, it doesn’t count as especially odd if an absent litigant gets hit with a big judgment.

Update Aug. 2009: Case settled [Citizen Media Law]

Tags: bloggers and the law, South Carolina, watch what you say about lawyers

“South Carolina Court Awards $1.8 Million Libel Judgment Against Blogger” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Update: BlockShopper settles with Jones Day

Walter Olson — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 23:06:58 +0000

In a case that sent alarms around the internet, the giant law firm had sued a startup website for supposedly impermissible linking; a judge let the suit go forward, and BlockShopper said it couldn’t afford to defend the case through trial [Alison Grant/Cleveland Plain Dealer, Ambrogi, Wendy Davis/Slate, ABA Journal, settlement agreement (PDF); earlier here, here, here, etc.]

More: Paul Alan Levy/CL&P, Ron Coleman, Sam Bayard/Citizen Media Law.

Tags: online speech, watch what you say about lawyers

Update: BlockShopper settles with Jones Day is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system