Righthaven CEO, Plus Two Former Righthaven Lawyers, Being Investigated By Nevada State Bar

from the hits-just-keep-on-coming dept

It appears that the Nevada State Bar has decided that some of the complaints against Righthaven that were filed over the past couple of years are worthy of a more detailed investigation. The bar has initiated an inquiry against Righthaven CEO Steve Gibson, as well as two of Righthaven's former lawyers, specifically regarding Righthaven. According to Vegas Inc.:

Phil Pattee, assistant Bar counsel, said the agency couldn’t disclose the nature of the grievances against the attorneys or whether they relate to complaints from outside parties or the Bar’s own review of the Righthaven cases or both. But he confirmed the grievances relate to the attorneys’ work for Righthaven.

“We’ll be asking them about Righthaven,” he said.

One other interesting tidbit in the article: apparently Gibson has a new job -- back to working as a lawyer, now in the Las Vegas office of Detroit-based law firm, Dickinson Wright.

Gibson, not surprisingly, is outwardly confident that this inquiry is not a big deal:

“I will be responding to the informational requests of the Bar and believe that after such responses and clarifications, the matter will be properly addressed. Miss Lowry indicates her concurrence,” Gibson said Thursday.

Of course, this is the same Steve Gibson who insisted that the courts believed in Righthaven and believed the company was "genuine," but were just pushing back to "give some guidance" for Righthaven competitors. Of course, in both cases he may turn out to be right. It's just that the "matter may be properly addressed" in a manner that Gibson does not like. And, as for "guidance," it appears that the guidance the courts were giving Righthaven competitors could be summed up as "don't do anything that Righthaven has been doing."

Filed Under: investigation, nevada, state bar, steve gibson
Companies: righthaven

Nevada Bar Investigating Righthaven Lawyers

from the keep-digging dept

It seems things keep getting worse and worse for Righthaven. With its lawsuits losing big time, and the underpinning of many of its lawsuits being dropped as a sham, it appears that the Nevada state bar is now investigating the company and its lawyers, after some grievances have been filed against the copyright trolling operation. People at the Nevada state bar have admitted that there are "two or possibly three" grievances being investigated. Steve Green has the details:

Court records suggest the State Bar in reviewing the Righthaven litigation is focusing on two broad areas:

-- Whether Righthaven and its attorneys have engaged in champerty and barratry – generally defined as the improper incitement and prosecution of lawsuits by parties with no real interest in the outcome – and that hope to profit by such lawsuits.

Attorneys for one of the Righthaven defendants, Thomas DiBiase, for instance, have charged: "DiBiase asserts that the purported copyright assignment from Stephens Media to Righthaven is a sham and that Righthaven is engaged in champerty and barratry by filing litigation on copyrights that it does not own."

-- Whether Righthaven and its attorneys have made misrepresentations to the court. If true, that would appear to be a violation of the Nevada Supreme Court’s Rules of Professional Conduct.

These rules say, in part, "It is professional misconduct for a lawyer" to "engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation." The rules also say, "A lawyer shall not knowingly make a false statement of fact or law to a tribunal or fail to correct a false statement of material fact or law previously made to the tribunal by the lawyer."

Both of those may end badly for Righthaven and its lawyers, especially the latter. The fact that Righthaven failed to reveal that Stephens Media was a 50% beneficial party to any legal results is a huge omission that I can't see the state bar brushing off as a minor infraction. It's still rather stunning that the company didn't realize that such information would eventually come out.

Filed Under: nevada, state bar
Companies: righthaven