Judge Slams Prenda And Paul Duffy; Calls Them Out For Lying And 'Duplicitous Behavior'
from the not-going-well dept
We recently wrote about Judge John Darrah in Northern Illinois agreeing to sanction Paul Duffy of Prenda Law for some of his egregious behavior in filing a defamation lawsuit against Paul Godfread, Alan Cooper and a bunch of internet commenters. Today, Darrah released his ruling explaining all of this, and to put it kindly, he's not buying what Duffy is selling. Even without needing to get into the lack of an actual defamation case there is here, the judge has multiple reasons for issuing sanctions and completely rips Duffy to shreds for not just the questionable filing of the lawsuit in the case, but the attempt to cover up -- by flat out lying to the court -- how ridiculous the whole thing was.As you may or may not recall, Duffy tried to keep the case in state court by doing a little trick whereby they added Paul Hansmeier's law firm, Alpha Law Firm, in an amended complaint (which would keep the case in state court since both the defendants and one of the plaintiffs would all be in Minnesota). Yet, as it quickly came out, the amended complaint was done through questionable means -- by apparently misrepresenting information to the court clerk, who told the court that Prenda's lawyer had misled her. So that attempt to keep it in state court totally failed, but Duffy then (on top of that) lied about the situation to the federal court.
Judge Darrah points basically all of this out and rips Duffy to shreds in the ruling. A few choice quotes:
When pressed, at the remand hearing on August 14, 2013, Duffy, counsel for Prenda, admitted he “filed substantially the same motion in the Southern District.”.... As discussed above, when asked what the Southern District of Illinois said about the motion, Duffy stated to the Court: “They denied the motion. They indicated - - the Court indicated that on the four corners of the complaint, it stated that it was a Minnesota corporation. However, the complaint also states that its principal place of business is in Minnesota.” .... However, the record reflects that the Southern District of Illinois Court said nothing of the sort. Duffy had the opportunity to address this lie in his response to the Motion for Sanctions and did not. To fabricate what a federal judge said in a ruling before another court falls well outside the bounds of proper advocacy and demonstrates a serious disregard for the judicial process.Needless to say, the court rules in favor of sanctions, noting Duffy's "unreasonable and vexatious conduct."
Following this duplicitous behavior before the Court, Duffy sought to withdraw the renewed motion for remand, generously explaining that the reason for the withdrawal was “due to the apparent confusion arising from [the] motion.”...
[....] Prenda, through its counsel, Paul Duffy, filed a response to the Motion for Sanctions. In it, they argue that “Defendants have made no showing that attorney Hoerner was aware that service had been accomplished at the time he attempted to file the amended complaint.” (Resp. to Motion for Sanctions at 10 (emphasis added).) Demonstrating Hoerner was aware that service had been accomplished is not necessary to determine the deception inherent in Hoerner’s affirmative (and false) representation to Kent that service had not been accomplished.
Indeed, rather than explain their conduct, they seek to attack the form and procedure by which Defendants filed their Motion for Sanctions. Prenda contends it is entitled to the safe harbor provision under Fed. R. Civ. P. 11(c)(2), which provides that a motion for sanctions may not be filed “if the challenged paper, claim, defense, contention, or denial is withdrawn or appropriately corrected within 21 days after service . . . .” Here, however, Prenda does nothing to explain or withdraw its assertions regarding what the Southern District of Illinois purportedly said about Alpha. Moreover, in its motion to withdraw the renewed motion for remand, Prenda continues to stand on its rejected assertions, insisting that “there was not diversity jurisdiction in this Court” and that Prenda “vehemently disagrees with representations made by Defendants . . . regarding its motion, but nevertheless due to the apparent confusion arising from Plaintiff’s motion, Plaintiff seeks to withdraw it.” .... The purpose of Rule 11 is to, in part, emphasize “the duty of candor by subjecting litigants to potential sanctions for insisting upon a position after it is no longer tenable.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 11 1993 Advisory Committee’s Notes (1993 Amendments) (emphasis added). Moreover, sanctions under Section 1927 and pursuant to the Court’s inherent authority are not subject to the safe harbor provision.
[....] Grasping at straws, Prenda next asserts Defendants failed to serve their Rule 11 motion pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 5 and that “Duffy has never consented in writing (or otherwise) to accept service of papers via electronic means.” ... This is clearly rebutted by the docket itself, which indicates that Duffy is an E-Filer of the Northern District of Illinois. “[S]ubject to the provisions of Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(b)(3), the Notice of Electronic Filing constitutes service under Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(b)(2)(D) . . . as to all E-Filers in a case assigned to ECF.” .... Therefore, whether or not Duffy realizes it, as an E-Filer, he has accepted service by electronic means.
[....] In a final act of audacity, Prenda, in response to Defendants’ Motion for Sanctions, contends that the “Court should award Prenda the fees it incurred in defending against Defendants’ patently frivolous motion.”
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Filed Under: john darrah, paul duffy, paul hansmeier, sanctions
Companies: alpha law firm, prenda, prenda law
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Ah the sound of Prenda crunching under the wheel of Justice
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Jeez. What does it take to get disbarred in this country? Blowing a line off of the bench then shooting a juror?
These guys don't deserve to have licenses - that much goes without saying. They probably also deserve criminal indictment. I sincerely don't understand why these steps have not already been taken.
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Every action these guys take screams "Lock me up and throw away the key." And yet, they are continuously stringing together one middle-finger-extended act after another. Isn't it time someone says ENOUGH and pulls the plug on them?
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Most of us here would be.
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Or mingling client funds and attorney funds, aka essentially embezzle from your client's funds. That's a lot harder to prove though, especially without a pissed off client to raise the issue.
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This means every cent ever collected for the alleged client was never given to the client. There was no accounting of the funds and adds some credibility to the financials that Gibbs submitted to Judge Wrights court.
So Prenda is no more and magically penniless as the sanctions roll in. AF Holdings is broke. And all of the lawyers are trying to claim they had nothing to do with any of this.
There is much worse than comingling the clients funds into the business accounts.
Expect Lutz to get worried and make noise soon, they are trying to throw another local under the bus again and AFH is no longer represented in GAND and was told directly in person by the Judge they needed a lawyer when they return to continue the sanctions hearing. Who knows by then maybe they will find the original signed assignments no one is able to find.
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A new trust?
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Re: Trust
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I trust them more than Pretenda.
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Think about it for a moment: these guys worked their asses off to create an amazing work of fiction in the hopes of using it to generate a ton of revenue, and they only get bad reviews and legal entanglements in return.
How dare the courts slam these upstanding fiction writers for doing such a great job!
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Also, to the best of my knowledge, they have yet to pay so much as a single dollar of it, which shows just how toothless such sanctions/fines really are, assuming the ones being sanctioned are getting the high-court treatment, whether through money or connections(or in this case knowing the system).
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Wow
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That is surely what Judge Darrah has done. He has centered on the behavior that had worked so well as a distraction from the main issues early on in other courts. There is no longer room for doubt in the court's eyes.
This is Prenda getting hung out to dry and well they deserve it.
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Where in the blue fuck is the IRS when you actually NEED them?
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And if IP address hits are to be believed they are looking at the massive amounts of data available online about the Pretendateers...
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So, they're the lawyer equivalent of the MPAA and RIAA when they push for new laws?
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My money's on federal disbarment in fall 2014, with various state disbarments trickling in in 2015 and 2016.
Yes, the process is too fucking slow. A lot of jurisdiction can run a murder trial faster than a disbarment.
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Don't mind me one the one hand happy to see them sanctioned, YET AGAIN, on the other it saddens me that more thunderbolts have now rained down from the various courts with current and appeal cases before them.
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As long as they are slower than Death's unbending sickle reaching everybody eventually, where is the point?
They will have died of old age after a long life spent in happiness before justice catches up.
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Steele, Hansmeier and Duffy have for so long inserted fiction into their case filings that I don't think they can separate fiction and reality any further.
They all used to know where the line was on right and wrong within their profession, the problem is that the endless pursuit of cash whether made illegally or not has blurred the line for them.
There is no way any of the Prenda gang can say this is a one of occasion with regards to the pron suits. The Prenda gang has done this with the class action objection scheme, and the latest in the ADA scheme.
So the fact that they are all about going after settlement cash because their is very little risk and big reward means they won't stop, until they are rattling the bars in their cell.
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- Any fraud on the court is moot now.
&
- Should ignore the CA ruling because Gay Marriage & Hackers.
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- We didn't do this, and even if we did so what?
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http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l82ajkXpht1qzufnjo1_500.jpg
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Reminds me of some tabletop roleplaying sessions
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It's like we're watching the explosion ending in The Stanley Parable play out. "Oh, dear me, what’s the matter, Stanley? Is it that you have no idea where you’re going or what you’re supposed to be doing right now? Or did you just assume when you saw that timer that something in this room was capable of turning it off? I mean, look at you, running from button to button, screen to screen, clicking on every little thing in this room! These numbered buttons! No! These colored ones! Or maybe this big, red button! Or this door! Everything! Anything! Something here will save me! Why would you think that, Stanley?"
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When all is finally said and done, someone should walk back through the facts and point out each and every failure in the law, the legal profession, the judiciary and make changes.
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So what?
The only thing that may stop them is jail time with barred outside communication. If you allow them to send letters, they will continue their business while living on the government's expense.
There are too many paying suckers for them to be ever required to stop just because of sanctions.
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The judge presents his summing
The whole damn farce unravels
But they continue travels
The wheels of justice turning
And AF Holdings burning
But Prenda keeps on wriggling
And that is why we're giggling...
With apologies to the Vengaboys. If I can't get it out of my head, neither shall you. Muahahahahaaa!
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Perhaps buying time to launder money or after the 300th insane lawsuit...actually plead not guilty by reason of insanity (after burying the suitcase of cash of course!)
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Wait for the movie
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$26K In Fees Sought
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