My lawyer's letter to Jonathan Monsarrat's lawyers

[ron_newman]

My lawyer, Dan Booth of Booth Sweet LLP in Cambridge, sent this 18-page letter to Jonathan Monsarrat's lawyers this afternoon. The letter details all the reasons that he considers the lawsuit against me to be groundless, and demands that Monsarrat's lawyers dismiss the case with prejudice by the end of business on Thursday.

If they don't voluntarily drop the case (which they probably won't), Dan Booth will file a motion for dismissal on Monday, using mostly the same arguments that are in this letter. He may also move for sanctions against Monsarrat's lawyers "for bringing bad faith claims."

He gave me full permission to put this letter online and to distribute it in whatever way I see fit. Feel free to point other people at it or to distribute it further.

Comments

[genesayssitdown.livejournal.com]

also uploaded it to scribed, here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/141666157/Re-Monsarrat-v-Filcman-Newman-and-Does-1-100-C-A-No-MICV2013-00399-C

[ron_newman]

Thanks. I am not familiar with scribd; what advantage does it have over Dropbox?

[genesayssitdown.livejournal.com]

scribd is neat because it can take pdf files, and display them as more dynamic content, and will display pdf files as searchable documents that can be downloaded in different formats (html, txt, doc, et cetera).

The files become embeddable, and is more machine readable by search engines like Google, if you make your files public (google is actively looking on scribd, wheras I don't think it's crawling through dropbox).

It's also just a kind of pleasant document sharing site. /end convoluted scribd praise

[samcoren.livejournal.com]

Ron - documents on scribd are easier to find in search engines and their embedded viewer is much more mobile friendly than direct links to PDFs.

Solid letter from Mr. Booth - I'm familiar with his work on copyright trolling cases and there's quite a few parallels between what's going on with the DSLJ defamation suit and those.

[purgatori84.livejournal.com]

That was an excellent read (my favorite part was, or course, "Have you ever actually read that statute?")

[serious-noir.livejournal.com]

Perhaps due to my dyslexic brain or late night blurry eyes but at first glance I scanned the lawyer's name as Dan Booth of Booth Sweet LIP and thought "Wow, that's some great name for a law firm." After reading the full letter I think he should change it to that.

[anomie666.livejournal.com]

One quick thing...I think the dates are wrong. It asks for a response by COB Thursday May 15th. I think he means either Thursday the 16th or Wednesday the 15th (today).

[ron_newman]

The typo is unfortunate (and someone else noted it above, here), but I suspect it's not going to matter. If Jonmon's lawyers drop any of the charges anytime this week, even after the deadline, it will be a pleasant surprise to both Dan Booth and me. We're not expecting it.

We do need to find and fix any other substantive typos (such as this one) if they are in sentences that are likely to be reused in the formal motion to dismiss.

[greyautumnrain.livejournal.com]

An excellent read, thank you for sharing.

[kalibex.livejournal.com]

Aww Yeah

[audioboy.livejournal.com]

That is a work of snarktastic beauty. +1

He really expects they won't drop the suit? He certainly seems to nail them hard on just about everything. How can they even proceed?

[rufinia.livejournal.com]

By doing it and hoping that a judge will agree with them.

The next step is Attorney Booth filing a Motion to Dismiss, which will use many of the same arguments but rephrased to be less overtly snarky. Then the Plaintiff's side gets to file a response, and there may be a hearing or the judge may make a decision without a hearing.

[kdsorceress.livejournal.com]

You have filed a phonebook-sized pile of exhibits, including thousands of comments on various
websites. No generalized assertion that Mr. Newman may bear liability for some unspecified
comment somewhere in that pile is sufficient to state a plausible claim against him. To sustain a
defamation claim, you can’t just point to the haystack; you have to show the needle.

Unf, that last sentence is beautiful and I want to use it in future conversations when people aren't being specific enough.

~Sor

[profrobert.livejournal.com]

That was a thing of beauty. I had read the Amended Complaint and thought it was garbage and possibly sanctionable, and it's nice to see that someone actively licensed in Massachusetts reads it the same way. I had also been wondering what some guy in North Carolina had to do with so local a case -- in a real defamation claim taking place in Massachusetts, you'd likely be directed to a member of the plaintiffs' bar in the Commonwealth. Mr. Booth's letter enlightened me: This is about promoting a joint venture between Mr. Montserrat and the Ishman Firm. That opens up some very interesting abuse-of-process claims when the Amended Complaint is dismissed.

[also-huey.livejournal.com]

Although I'm not a lawyer and not even in the legal field, due to some professional obligations, I've been forced to read some legal filings. Aside from that, I've been a longtime fan of Popehat.

And I have to say, this letter is an epic legal beatdown, a pleasure to read, and convincing evidence that you have found a fine lawyer. Congrats, and good luck.

[rozasharn.livejournal.com]

Yay! I hope you win!

[siderea]

Magnificent.

"IV. The complaint does not state a claim of common-law copyright against anyone because there is no such thing."

That's where I completely lost it.

Proofreading

[squirrelitude]

Some fairly inconsequential typos:

* "For reasons, noted more fully below" <- extra comma (top of page 4)
* "Exhibt" <- typo, top of page 14

[moechus.livejournal.com]

I would like to point out that I too am a snarky lawyer over 40. Just sayin'.

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

Clearly, you need to start posting some excerpts of your legal snark. :)

[moechus.livejournal.com]

Here's an example. It's the first draft of a letter to the consulate in China who had refused to accept a marriage as bona fide despite the wife's pregnancy (I admit that the final draft was toned down a bit, well, a lot). I've cut it in two because of LJ's limit on the number of characters.

To [the U.S. consulate in Guangzhou, China]:

I apologize for continually bludgeoning you with emails but the non-responsiveness of your boilerplate replies leaves me with little choice. I would appreciate it if, in your response to this email, you would include the word "pregnant"; that way I will at least know that you have read it.

Once again, the point I am raising is that THE APPLICANT'S WIFE IS PREGNANT. And the question I am asking for a direct answer to is HOW CAN YOU FIND A MARRIAGE THAT IS ABOUT TO PRODUCE A CHILD NOT BONA FIDE? I have considered this question and have come up with four conceivable possibilities. Perhaps if I lay them out, I will make your job easier; if one of mine is correct, you need only indicate which one.

1. You do not believe that the applicant's wife is really pregnant. But if this is true, you could easily make a phone call to Tufts Medical Center and verify the pregnancy. Why didn't you do so? By the way, I personally met with the wife the other day and let me assure you that she is either quite pregnant or wearing a pillow under her blouse.

2. You do not believe the applicant is the father of his wife's unborn child. I should note that the dates match up. The wife arrived in China on October 23 and the due date is July 24. That's 39 weeks and one day, well within the normal gestation period (which the World Health Organization defines as between 37 and 42 weeks). But if this is the case, why could you not hold up adjudication of the petition until the child is born and then get the results of a DNA test? Surely this would be better (and more humane) than the course you chose that will likely delay the applicant's reuniting with his family by a year or more.

3. You believe but the applicant got his wife knocked up but think that this was just a ruse to get a green card and that, once the application is approved, the child will be aborted, put up for adoption, or simply abandoned. If this is the case, I suggest that you retire at once while you are on top of your game. You have attained a level of cynicism beyond the reach of even the most jaded of consular officers. You will never be able to top this achievement. My advice is to quit while you're ahead.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

It's true, and you are also awesome beyond words!

[moechus.livejournal.com]

Aw shucks.

[bluesauce.livejournal.com]

...Man. I want to get them some aloe for those burns.

[jikamens.livejournal.com]

It was a pleasure and a treat to read Dan's letter. I wouldn't wish on anyone what JonMon is doing to Ron, Deborah et al, but I almost wish somebody would sue me so I could pay Dan Booth to write a letter like that for me. :-)