Help! I am being sued for my participation in davis_square

[ron_newman]

Twenty-five minutes ago, a constable delivered to me an unexpected package. It is a lawsuit by Jonathan Graves Monsarrat, alleging that he was libeled by me, Deb Filcman, and "John and Jane Does 1-100, presently unknown individuals". He is seeking $500,000 in compensatory damages, $5 million in punitive damages, and deletion of various LJ posts and comments.

I am called (incorrectly) "the moderator" of this forum.

Many participants here are named by LJ handle. "Plaintiff intends to identify the Doe Defendants through means of discovery and will amend this lawsuit to identify the Doe Defendants by proper legal names upon obtaining such information"

If I don't reply within 20 days, a default judgment will be entered against me.

All possible advice and help would be greatly appreciated right now.

In particular, if anyone here is or knows an appropriate attorney who'd be willing to help out at least a bit pro bono, let me know.

ETA 5/1/13: please see this followup post for PDF scans of the amended complaint I was served with, as well as the original complaint that I never received. Please continue the discussion there after reading the complaints.

Comments

[tsuki-no-bara.livejournal.com]

i don't have any law advice, altho it looks like you've gotten a lot of it, and mostly i'm amazed this guy seems to think he deserves $5.5m because his little fee-fees were hurt. jeebus.

[bluesauce.livejournal.com]

"little fee-fees" just made me legitimately LOL at work.

[tamalinn.livejournal.com]

"little fee-fees"! <3

[oneagain.livejournal.com]

How hideous. So sorry you have to deal with this now, Ron. When you are cleared, I suggest counter-suing for pain/damages, if that's an option.

[dcltdw]

Oh, for the love of...

Sorry to hear you have to deal with this. If you need to fundraise for a legal defense, let me know.

I think kelkyag said it best: I am surprised that my opinion of JonMon could go lower.

[sairaali.livejournal.com]

Ditto

[siderea]

Where do we send money?

[thegreenyear.livejournal.com]

How horrible. I'm sorry this is happening. & glad you're getting in touch with legal representation. And thankful someone linked to the old crap, so I could burn his face into my brain. (Despite being clearly far too old for this sack of santorum.)

[anyee.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, the theme of that thread is that he did manage to bait a lot of people while keeping himself "clean". Everyone who spoke in there should take it upon themselves to file criminal complaints, since his major argument was that if no complaints existed, he did nothing wrong.

The oddest part was where Turil seemed to approve of having sex with five year olds. That was absolutely chilling.

[clauclauclaudia]

She really didn't, but boy was that a mess.

[ron_newman]

I'd like to request that we not continue the Turil discussion here, as that's a huge black hole and distracts from the immediate issue at hand. Thanks.

[anyee.livejournal.com]

I toasted it.

[clauclauclaudia]

Will do. Or rather, won't do.

[jedi.livejournal.com]

Oh I really hope that just gets tossed out by the judge. rid0nk.
I sure hope nobody finds all his web presences and trolls him for this.

[jedi.livejournal.com]

jonmon has incorrectly accused me of advocating trolling him in this post and has sent a bullshit "legal" form requesting I remove the post or be corralled into this frivolous lawsuit. For the record you can clearly see that I have expressed my DEEP CONCERN that nobody trolls him for his actions. Reading comprehension bitch.

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

A few others have already posted some Legal Services info, but also check out the Boston Bar Association's Lawyer Referral Service (they can find you a lawyer either at full price or on a sliding scale), Greater Boston Legal Services (same), and LARC, which is a free legal clinic.

Good luck :( :(

[ron_newman]

I do not know what 'LARC' is. Please expand this abbreviation or link to whatever it stands for. Thanks.

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I couldn't remember off the top of my head, and I only had a second to respond. Here it is: http://larcma.org/. it's the legal Advocacy and resource Center.

[greg kudasz (from livejournal.com)]

Hang in there. Most likely the first step your lawyer will do is get more time to answer the complaint so don't panic.

[tamalinn.livejournal.com]

I have nothing to offer on the legal advice front or the financial support front, but I can offer you plenty on the moral support front! I'm really sorry you're going through this. I vaguely remember that guy. Mostly what I remember was that he had a wheel of something, and he was a jerk.

[ron_newman]

Yes, a 'Question Wheel'. See here and here for some discussion from 2008 and 2009.

[mperrotti76.livejournal.com]

Ridiculous.

[coyotedave.livejournal.com]

I'm here because I read about this case on Popehat. I've never seen a case like this on Popehat that came out well for the plaintiff. There's a good chance there're are some very competent lawyers in Massachusetts who'd enjoy administering a public flogging pro-bono for you.

[jmwolman.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately for Mr. JonMon, the Streisand effect is coming to bear. The scattershot approach is going to cost him far more than a more surgical approach would have. I and others have been commenting over at Popehat, and I recommend reading the piece and the commentary.