Would You Believe That Infamous Copyright Troll Richard Liebowitz Is In Trouble Again?
from the no,-really dept
I think if I stopped writing about other stuff, I could still fill Techdirt with the same number of posts just covering the problems facing copyright trolling lawyer Richard Liebowitz. Today we have a story of Liebowitz being in trouble, yet again. This is in the Chevrestt v. Barstool Sports case. We mentioned this one back in May, where a judge sanctioned Liebowitz and benchslapped him pretty significantly for failing to follow "simple" orders from the court. The judge in that case noted that in the case last year where Liebowitz lied about the death of his grandfather, that he had promised to attend some courses on how to better manage his legal practice. The judge asked for some details about whether or not he actually carried that out:
As noted above, this Order is neither the only time the Undersigned has sanctioned Mr. Liebowitz nor is the Undersigned the only judge in this district who has sanctioned him. In Berger v. Imagina Consulting, Inc., 18-CV-8956 , in responding to a contempt citation that was precipitated by Mr. Liebowitz having lied to Judge Siebel, Mr. Liebowitz’s attorney argued that Mr. Liebowitz should not be held in contempt and recommended a number of steps Mr. Liebowitz should take to improve the professionalism of his practice. Among counsel’s recommendations was professional psychological help and a CLE course on small law firm management. See 18-CV-8956, Dkt. 61 at 4. While both may be helpful, psychological help is best obtained because the patient wants help. Whether Mr. Liebowitz wants to improve or not (and the Court questions whether he does), this Court concurs with Mr. Liebowitz’s attorney in Berger that management training is in order. Accordingly, Mr. Liebowitz is ordered to participate in CLE training regarding management of a small law firm. Mr. Liebowitz must attend such training on or before September 1, 2020. The course must cover the basics of setting up and running a law practice, including how to maintain systems so that Court obligations are tracked and obeyed. Mr. Liebowitz is directed to provide the Court with information about the course he wishes to attend for the Court’s approval. He will, at the end of the course, be required to present proof of attendance and to provide a sworn statement to the Court on what he learned from the course and what concrete steps he has instituted in his practice to improve compliance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Court orders.
That was back in May. You may note that we are now in September. Liebowitz had many months to write up the required book report for Judge Valerie Caproni. But what he actually turned in would embarrass your average 3rd grader who forgot to do the book report he had a month to write up and then tried to write something on the bus to school. First, he did apparently take some CLE (Continuing Legal Education) classes -- though not all the ones the judge required. He lists out six classes he claims he attended. The judge did require him to not just present proof of attending the courses, but also the "sworn statement" about "what he learned" and "what concrete steps he has instituted in his practice to improve compliance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedures and Court orders."
That second part is... lacking. First he notes:
One program entitled Panel of Lawyers Who are Doing it: Practice Management Technology to Grow Your Solo/Small Law Practice Ethically was not recorded and thus I was unable to watch this program on-line. However, instead of watching only two of the following in number 5 in your Honor’s Order, I watched all three programs. What I learned in Admitting our mistakes: Owning up to Lawyer Missteps, is relevant here because I didn’t realize that this program was only available as a live event and was not going to be recorded like the other programs identified above. I apologize to the Court for this mistake.
Then he just copy/pasted the outlines of each of the courses into the filing. This is, literally, the least he could do. And it's not the kind of effort that tells anyone from your 3rd grade teacher to the federal judge who has significant power of your future livelihood that you actually did the work you were required to do. Then, he adds two more paragraphs at the end that... do not actually answer what the judge ordered, and again sounds like he scribbled it down just in time to meet the deadline. It's the legal equivalent of "this book is a book that I read, that is called [x] and has so and so many pages."
Based upon what I learned in the above CLE’s, I am continuing to learn new things in my practice management software to run things more efficiently and smoothly. I also am making sure to own up to my mistakes that do happen. I am also improving my time management skills by implementing some of the essential guidelines learned such as managing a plan at the beginning of the day. I am changing the way I use technology such as calendaring to make sure tasks get done on time and items get docketed correctly. I have also learned to delegate tasks that can be delegated to make the work flow more efficient.
I thank the Court for recommending these CLE programs and look forward to continuing to implement what I learned into my practice.
I cringe just reading that.
Guess who else was not impressed. Judge Caproni responded the very next day saying "um, no, try again." Also, points docked for typos.
Mr. Liebowitz was directed to submit a report detailing "how he is changing the practices in his firm based on what he learned" in these courses. Dkt. 28. Mr. Liebowitz's above-statement that he is "changing the way I use technology such as calendaring to make sure tasks get done on time and items get docketed correctly" is insufficient. No later than September 8, 2020, Mr. Liebowitz is directed to file a letter detailing the specific and concrete changes he is making to his practice. Additionally, no later than September 8, 2020, Mr. Liebowitz is directed to explain why he unilaterally substituted another course in direct violation of a previous Court order and without the Court's permission. Mr. Liebowitz is also directed to proofread carefully his submissions before submitting them. His letter dated August 31, 2020, is riddled with typos that presumably would have been caught had Mr. Liebowitz proofread the letter prior to submission.
Oof. Now, to a normal person, you might recognize that this judge is not happy and maybe, just maybe, try a little harder for the next time. But, come on, this is Richard Liebowitz we're talking about. He basically submitted the same work over again with slight modifications:
The reason why I took all three of the courses in Number 5 is because one program in Number 4 entitled Panel of Lawyers Who are Doing it: Practice Management Technology to Grow Your Solo/Small Law Practice Ethically was not recorded on video but was only available as a live event. Thus, I was unable to watch this program on-line. I did not realize that this program was only available as a live event and was not video recorded as was the case with the other programs identified above. I apologize to the Court for this mistake.
Based upon what I learned in the CLE’s, the specific and concrete changes I have made – and will continue to make – include delegating tasks to employees to make the Firm more efficient in managing cases. This includes tasks such as client intake, discovery, motions, calendaring, etc. I am doing this by implementing a plan at the beginning of each week. Also, by making a weekly plan this will improve my time management. In addition, I am actively training and supervising new staff and current staff on new calendaring/scheduling/client protocols in the office while maintaining a well-balanced and flexible work schedule for employees. The continued education on our practice management software is ongoing. In addition, I plan on taking more CLE courses dedicated to management for small law firms so that I can be continually educated by professionals in the field.
That's it. That's literally it. I mean, even I can hardly believe that this is all Liebowitz would do. I mean, holy shit, dude. Do you really think this would suffice?
Judge Caproni is... not happy. She wants young Richard in court in person tomorrow to explain himself. In detail.
WHEREAS on September 8, 2020 Mr. Liebowitz submitted a letter that fails to address adequately these two issues (Dkt. 31);
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT: Mr. Liebowitz must appear in-person on September 15, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. in Courtroom 518 of the Thurgood Marshall Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, New York, New York, 10007. Mr. Liebowitz should be prepared to explain in detail what concrete steps he has taken, based on the CLE courses he took, to improve his practice or otherwise ensure that the non-compliance that gave rise to the sanctions in the first instance will not be repeated. He should also be prepared to explain why, when he learned that due to his own inattention to detail one of the courses he was ordered to take was unavailable, he did not ask the Court to modify its prior order rather than unilaterally deciding he could take a different course.
I get the feeling tomorrow is going to be another bad day for Liebowitz.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: chevrestt, cle, copyright troll, richard liebowitz, sanctions
Companies: barstool sports
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
In trouble again? Looks to me more like "in trouble still".
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Sounds like Richard is going to get detention.
How can someone who writes like that get a JD?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Judge "Your in a deep hole, so stop digging and grab the rope I am lowering"
Richard "toss me down a bigger shovel"
[ link to this | view in thread ]
How very Liebowitz
Ordered to take a course on ethics, gets caught 'cheating'.
Some people just refuse to change, but at least his various benchslaps provide some well-needed moments of humor during the hell that is 2020.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
I didn't realise
that "In Deep Shit" could be a lawyers default mode.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Liebowitz's first response reads a bit like it was written by an AI thing, or by students in answering an AI thing.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Is there a disbarment process?
I'm assuming there is - criminal lawyers getting p0wned by their clients - but for this nonsense ? Criminal conviction bars then doesn't it?
What about continual vexatious lawsuits?
it costs everyone time and money for nothing. At some point they should be putting to their Bar authority they are no longer fit for standing in front of a court.
Sorry UK based (and boy do we have problems, but asking questions about US helps - what lunacy happens to you guys we get, only with tea. )
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Well, things could always be worse for him.
I’m not sure exactly how they could be worse, but I know they could be.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Liebowitz in trouble again? Must be a day ending in a 'y'.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Wow, Richard Liebowitz... You're NOW only starting to use a calendar app to make sure you meet certain court deadlines? IANAL, but this should be something that EVERY lawyer should be doing since Day 1. And the way that sentence was written... sounds like what a grade school student would write in hopes of getting a gold sticker!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
To be fair, Liebowitz is getting schooled by the courts, so…
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Liebowitz calendar entry: September 15, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. in Courtroom 518 of the Thurgood Marshall Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, New York, New York, 10007.
Liebowitz calendar entry: September 15, 2020 at 2:15 p.m. Manhattan Detention Complez
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
bah...Complex
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Mike, an idea
How about PatentTroll.Techirt.com, just for Richard Liebowitz ?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Proofreading: how does it work?
"Punctual- Be on table" is amazing. Dkt. #29 at page 3, #5h. So is 5e, which is, in its entirety, "Keep your promises-". No wonder the judge ordered him to proofread his shit.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
Giveb Liebotwitz's typos in his motions, they may setup a 'Complez' in his honour.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re:
How the heck did I add typos to my own comment. How embarrassing.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
... sorta?
Technically there's a process to disbar lawyers but much like other parts of the legal systems when it comes to holding their own accountable it's very rare that it's actually used, and a lawyer really has to go above and beyond in being a scumbag over a long period of time, or do something insanely overboard to even have a chance for it to kick in.
One need only look at the likes of Prenda to see how this works in practice, as they were able to run their copyright extortion scheme for years, even after judges started to catch on to how they were abusing the legal system for personal gain.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Re:
Fitting though.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
"... this should be something that EVERY 6th grader should be doing since Day 1."
ftfy
Heck, we (Switzerland) were mandated to have a homework booklet (kinda agenda) from 1st grade (iirc) 4th grade for sure, that I remember clearly.
When he hasn't gotten the hang of something like this by the end of College one wonders what he has been doing, or how fucked up the US education system really is.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Netflix Special
Is there a Netflix Documentary series based on what Richard Liebowitz is doing?
...
...because
A. I would binge the whole thing, and
B. it would damn well explain everything!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
"I didn't realize..."
So I want graduate from University of Southern North Dakota (West campus). I didn't realize you has to go to classroom. I watch TV all day all night but no Chemistry 101 show! Also not English 001 Remedial Grammar. I delegate homework essay to homeless kid on street corner, good of me, see!
Can I haz diploma now?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Dude put more time and attention into designing his letterhead logo than anything he has ever done in court.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Waiting for the Liebowitz defense/apologetics crew to appear...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
Is that the Hoople campus? Near the Turtle Mountain Naval Base?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
At this point, the only people genuinely defending Liebowitz are Liebowitz and (maybe) his family.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
Well, he could Carreon...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Oh, come on, he gave a completely honest response! The order said that he was to report "what concrete steps he has instituted in his practice", and he replied with... nothing.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
Except for his grandfather.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Why would anyone trust an immature douchebag like Richard Liebowitz to do anything right? If your intellectual property is stolen, then you're better off treating it like real property is stolen. It's like car theft, or so we've been told, and I would just assume police would come and bust up any IP theft ring and the thieves would be forced to pay up a multiple of what the item in question is worth. (Not that the cost of an image could be reasonably quantified anyway.)
Of course, this would pose many problems because images, music, and the public display of movies are not tangible, and merely having knowledge of contraband information is not arrestable according to the US Constitution. Judges would be swamped with IP theft to the point where real property theft would be ignored, and the cost of going to trial would not be worth the value of what you could get in recompensation. Proving beyond a reasonable doubt that a person "stole" an image or song is also difficult and the other rights afforded defendants would make guilt harder to prove. So we're left with a vast majority of the US population being recidivist thieves or the entire rule being abolished for the sake of everyone's piece of mind. If scumbags like Liebowitz want the former, I'd go with the latter.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
I would agree with your conclusion, while vehemently dissenting from your reasoning.
The problem is, on any issue you can ALWAYS find a scumbag on every side. So anyone can take any position they like (on your definition of logic) by simply selecting the right scumbags.
An honest man MUST go with the logic: "I'd be for the latter EVEN IF Liebowitz for some unfathomable reason of his own claimed to agree with me."
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: How very Liebowitz
I don't think it's funny. I think it's a blatant ethics violation that should be stopped ASAP. This guy should have been disbarred long ago and that his shenanigans can continue is a farce.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
But if Liebowitz thought that the defendants were innocent, then he'd probably not even argue against them, or do so in a halfhearted way to ensure acquittal. His lies are so unconvincing that not even he believes them.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
'What did I just tell you?'
That's he's still a lawyer isn't funny, and presents a damning view of the legal profession that someone like that can abuse it for so long without meaningful consequences.
That even when a judge tries to give him a way to ever so slightly stop digging he simply cannot help himself(or more likely simply doesn't care to) and continues to lie and cheat is funny, like watching someone particularly odious that you just told 'don't run headfirst into that wall' do it anyway.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hey, he literally has the word "lie" in his name.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
Damn, you went to the same college as Richard Liebowitz?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
...who died conveniently enough to provide Liebowitz with a probable excuse.
I honestly wouldn't put it past Liebowitz to view his family members as a reserve stock of alibis by now.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
I don't see the problem here. According to Ajit Pai and Richard Bennett, dead people can defend the net neutrality repeal, so defending a copyright troll should be right up their alley.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
In the music department...more or less...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
s/education/legal/
Although, it's true for both....
[ link to this | view in thread ]
What will we read when he is finally gone
I will miss the epic exploits of this trailblazing lawyer when they finally decide enough is enough and kill his practice. While a benefit for almost everyone it will be a loss to those of us who have followed his career(?) over the years
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: What will we read when he is finally gone
I wouldn't worry.
We originally thought that Rightscorp was as bad as things would get, then Prenda Law happened.
Then Prenda Law got nailed by the hammer of Otis Wright, and we thought there wouldn't be anything more - then Malibu Media happened.
Then judges across the country started tossing Malibu Media cases until they got sued by their investors when the "sue people for porn money" plan didn't pan out - then Strike 3 and Liebowitz happened.
That's copyright trolls for you: predictable, greedy, and incompetent. It'll only be a matter of time before someone out-Liebowitzes Liebowitz to fill the void of dumbfuck he leaves behind.
Not that it's easy, mind you - Leonard French put out a video pointing out how Liebowitz lost a case against Good Mythical Morning, a case which Liebowitz should have won.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
Bailiff: Er I, I'm afraid Liebowitz has fallen through the Earth's crust.
Judge: Are you all right Liebowitz?
Liebowitz: I appear to have landed on this kind of ledge thing.
Judge: Shall we lower down one of the judicial ropes?
Liebowitz: If you'd be so kind.
Judge: What length of judicial rope will we be likely to need?
Liebowitz: I should use the longest judicial rope. That would be a good idea I would imagine.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
A child in an adult's body
A child in an adult's body. This person has very serious problems.
Very serious problems! Something tells me that he never grew up, never passing the social maturity age of about 10 or 11 years old.
A spoiled brat of a 10 year-old. Now a spoiled brat adult.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
I think the Prenda Gang would be embarrassed to have this idiot as a low level goon let alone a lawyer.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: What will we read when he is finally gone
The word you seek is "trajectory".
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
You're assuming that the Prenda Gang has a sense of shame. They don't. Paul Hansmeier sincerely, really doesn't.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Might Be Just My Imagination
But it seems that the links that ought to download the judge's saying "um, no, try again." actually bring up more Liebowitz paper.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
More likely, Liebowitz would ask for a parachute, so that he can jump and find the bottom so that he can keep on digging.
[ link to this | view in thread ]