Prenda Law Tries The 'I Know You Are, But What Am I' Legal Strategy
from the legal-childishness-at-work dept
Ah, Prenda Law. As you may recall, there's been an ongoing fight over some Prenda cases in California, with the key players being Prenda lawayer Brett Gibbs, lawyer for some John Doe defendants Morgan Pietz, and judge Otis Wright. Oh yeah, and the possibly mysterious Alan Cooper, who may or may not be Prenda mastermind John Steele's property caretaker. As you may recall, the caretaker Cooper had a lawyer file some documents in some Prenda cases involving shell companies AF Holdings and Ingenuity 13, suggesting that he was worried that Steele had faked his identity and claimed that Cooper was the CEO of those two companies, when they were really controlled by Steele.While Cooper's claims were not made by him in the California cases, Pietz brought them up in those cases, leading to a series of hissy fits from Gibbs. At first he refused to answer a simple question about who Alan Cooper really is, and then when ordered to do so by Judge Wright, asked that Wright be removed from the case for bias. If you thought that was the end of things, you don't know Prenda Law, apparently. The latest filing from Gibbs takes legal childishness to altogether new levels, more or less trying to flip things around and claim that it's really Pietz who is making up people who he represents. I'm not joking.
Thus far, Attorney Morgan Pietz has submitted filings in approximately twenty cases in the Central District on the basis of the fact that he represents the putative John Doe in this case. However, Mr. Pietz has not offered a single shred of evidence to support this assertion. As it stands, Mr. Pietz could very well be intervening in all of these cases for his own ends, with no real client that he is defending. If Mr. Pietz wishes to contest the plain, unambiguous evidence of bias that Plaintiff has demonstrated in its Motion for Disqualification, then Mr. Pietz should have to submit evidence that he is, in fact, representing the actual individual he claims to represent, and not merely inserting himself into cases on the pretense of representing that individual.Every time we see another story about Prenda law, it seems to involve someone associated with the firm doing something incredibly unprofessional and childish, in a manner suggesting they think they're a hell of a lot smarter than everyone else and are actually pulling something over on the world -- when the reality is that all of their moves seem ridiculously transparent.
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Filed Under: alan cooper, brett gibbs, copyright, copyright trolls, john steele, morgan pietz, otis wright
Companies: af holdings, ingenuity 13, prenda, prenda law
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Ahh, Prete^H^Hnda Law...
"We pretend-a to a-know what we're a-doing!"
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Re: Ahh, Prete^H^Hnda Law...
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Prove you're John Doe's lawyer
If you don't, you must be just some lawyer off the street who has too much time on your hands and took on a case just for fun.
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Re: Prove you're John Doe's lawyer
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If the real possibility exists, could the court order Gibbs to turn over his passport to the court?
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It might be high time that someone freeze the assets of Pretenda and the new company name, grab some passports, and start demanding answers to very serious questions.
Mr. Steele publicly stated he was making millions, and I am willing to bet most of that money is in St.Kitts/Nevis where the shell companies are set up.
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10,000 daily in sanctions
I can't help but think that at the end of the day it would be pretty freaking amusing to be in Prenda's cross-hairs.
Nigel
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Re: 10,000 daily in sanctions
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What are the chances?
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Re: What are the chances?
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But that does raise the interesting question...
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Re: But that does raise the interesting question...
But seriously, I suspect the court would take his word that he is actually defending the John Doe as sufficient.
I also suspect that they would probably take Gibb's word as sufficient as well that Alan Cooper is a different Alan Cooper then John Steeles' caretaker - the problem is that he won't come out and say it which is probably why he is being pressed on it.
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Re: Re: But that does raise the interesting question...
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Re: But that does raise the interesting question...
The plaintiff in this case wants to discover the identify of the defendant. If the plaintiff can stop playing games like "where's the CEO?" and "I know you are . . .", then they could get on with starting a real litigation against the defendant and then discover defendant's identity during actual litigation.
Alas, the plaintiff never had any actual intention of litigating.
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Re: Re: But that does raise the interesting question...
It's a very VERY serious issue which could get a lot of Prenda's lawyers disbarred and in deep deep shit with the IRS, the SEC and a bunch of others.....
I say we combine the forces of today's modern evil and have a TSA agent do a full cavity search of Steele to see if Alan is hiding up there.....
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Sounds familiar
Cue the Monty Python bit:
M: "If you're arguing, I must have paid."
A: "Not necessarily. I could be arguing in my spare time."
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A few, not so, good men
Pietz: I think I'm entitled to them.
Gibbs: You want answers?
Pietz: I want the truth!
Gibbs: You can't handle the truth!
=P
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Im going to wake up
But alias.... its very very real... and wont end soon enough.
The dream of a dream is nice to dream about though.
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Re: Im going to wake up
No. It will end too soon. Just as Righthaven did. There was too long of a dry spell in 2012 without such comedy relief.
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an afterthought
Looking for an Alan Cooper.
Cushy CEO position awaits.
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The new company name they moved onto after not filing the yearly report with IL for Pretenda, has been sending out demand letters under the new name to unmasked Does.
Mind you some of the names they hold are from a case where they Judge told them they could not use them... and funny those names have been used.
The money rolls in, is quickly offshored, and the empty husk of the company will have nothing for anyone to pick over.
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Its so very hard to get a Judge to accept someone filing anonymously, let alone get them to consider the facts reported to them.
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You're welcome.
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Aside from being a troll, what's your point?
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Problem with Argument
[Insert Imaginary Character's Name Here] being sued for copyright infringement of [Insert Imaginary Character's Name Here] movie.
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Re: Problem with Argument
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Should we send Gibbs two pencils and a pair of underpants perhaps?
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If the law is on your side, pound on the law.
If the facts are on your side, pound on the facts.
If neither facts nor law are available, pound on the table.
... with a new twist:
If you're in way, way, waay over your head, and the stress has blown most mental fusing, pound that career to bits on the rocks.
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So odd seeing the party kick off here...
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The judge dismissed this whole mess with prejudice and throwing Pretending Inc. in jail for abuse and contempt.
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Will the real Alan Cooper please stand up?
"No, I am Alan Cooper."
"I am Alan Cooper."
"I am Alan Cooper."
Just doesn't have the same 'machismo' as "I am Spartacus"....
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