If Righthaven Declares Bankruptcy, Expect Lawyers To Go After Stephens Media, Media News, And Righthaven Principals

from the limited-liability? dept

There are lots of rumors swirling about a possible Righthaven bankruptcy, but that doesn't seem to worry those pushing for class action lawsuits against the company. Lawyer Todd Kincannon, whose been leading the charge against Righthaven on that front, apparently told law professor Eric Johnson that he'll keep going after other parties:

“I always knew Righthaven would file bankruptcy if things got rough,” Kincannon told me by e-mail. “They were set up as a limited liability company just so they could do that. Fortunately, Stephens Media, MediaNews Group, Sherman Frederick, Steve Gibson, and Dickinson Wright all seem to have plenty of money.”

Of course, Righthaven, being a limited liability company, may make that more difficult. And as awful a company as I think Righthaven has been, I'm a bit wary of breaking down the walls of a limited liability company. If it can be shown that Righthaven was set up by folks knowing that the effort was fraudulent, and that the sole purpose of Righthaven was to protect those who knew that what they were doing was illegal, that may open the window for pursuing other parties further. But, if they honestly believed that this was a legit operation and setup, I'm really not convinced that the pursuit should go beyond Righthaven -- especially to folks like Steve Gibson. I could see going after Stephens Media and MediaNews Group as one could argue they were really the driving forces behind the lawsuits. But taking on individuals seems like going too far.

Filed Under: bankruptcy, corporate veil, todd kincannon
Companies: medianews, righthaven, stephens media