Prenda Law was a “copyright trolling” scheme that sued thousands for downloading online porn, but the organization was buried under a wave of judicial sanctions beginning in 2013.
However, the three lawyers found to be intertwined with the organization—John Steele, Paul Hansmeier, and Paul Duffy—continue to get in hot water. On Friday, an Illinois federal judge reconsidered (PDF) a 2014 ruling in which he found there wasn’t enough evidence for a “contempt of court” finding. New evidence has convinced US District Judge David Herndon that Steele and Hansmeier should be found in contempt, and last week he ordered them to pay $65,263. That amount will get progressively larger, the judge warned, “if they continue their misdeeds before this Court.”
In addition, Steele and Duffy “engaged in unreasonable, willful obstruction of discovery in bad faith,” and Herndon ordered those two to pay for the defense’s discovery expenses, needed to unwind the complex financial records.
The three offending lawyers have until July 15 to pay up.
“We’re ecstatic because we finally got it, and this order gives them a set date by which to pay,” said defense lawyer Jason Sweet in an interview with Ars. “They didn’t have to obstruct discovery. It was always in their control. As the court found, they’ve shown a willingness to lie, and they’ll continue to do so unless they’re sanctioned.”
Tag: John Steele
Prenda Law And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Appellate Argument
Pregerson: And you’re a great lawyer.
Voelker: I appreciate you saying that, Your Honor.
Pregerson: I mean, it says so, right there on your web site.
It’s time for an update on the exploits of Prenda Law, that team of crooked, bumbling copyright trolls that’s been stomped by judges nationwide.
Today, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard oral argument in a Prenda case. Prenda’s principals have appealed Judge Wright’s catastrophic May 2013 sanctions order against them. It was worth the long wait for court-watchers — though probably not for Prenda.
Judge Wright faced complex problems: given that Prenda had dismissed its copyright-trolling case, what sort of sanctions power did he retain, and what sort of due process did he have to extend to the Prendarasts to invoke that power? On appeal, Team Prenda argues that Judge Wright’s sanctions and attorney fees award exceeded his power because (1) Team Prenda’s inviduals — like John Steele and Paul Hansmeier — were not properly before the court, and (2) Judge Wright effectively levied criminal sanctions, triggering procedural rights that he did not extend to Team Prenda. John Doe — the defendant who triggered this whole escapade, successfully represented by Morgan Pietz — argued that the bizarre and extreme facts supported all of Judge Wright’s order under applicable law.
It’s foolish to bet on specific outcomes based on oral argument. But that’s the kind of fool I am. I predict that the Ninth Circuit will uphold part of Judge Wright’s sanctions order — the part that represents a civil sanction — and send the case back to the trial court for a more complete hearing on criminal sanctions.
That’s not good for Prenda.
Court Dismisses Prenda’s Ridiculous Defamation Lawsuit Against Internet Critics & Guy Whose Signature It Forged
Remember Alan Cooper? This was the housekeeper for some cabins owned by John Steele, one of the lawyers behind Prenda Law, who suddenly found his name and (falsified) signature on a number of documents related to Prenda Law’s copyright trolling shakedowns. Unhappy with this situation, Cooper sued John Steele and Prenda Law. In response, Prenda Law, Paul Duffy and John Steele all sued back… for defamation. Specifically, they filed three separate lawsuits, all against Alan Cooper, his lawyer Paul Godfread and a bunch of anonymous internet commenters. John Steele quickly dropped his lawsuit (apparently there were some serious procedural problems with it in Florida), but Duffy kept both his personal lawsuit and Prenda’s lawsuit going — despite the fact that the lawsuits were clearly crazy.
There was some back and forth as Duffy tried (and failed) to keep the lawsuits in state court (where crazy lawsuits tend to have a better chance), and last year the lawsuit that was technically filed by “Prenda” resulted in sanctions against Duffy. The lawsuit filed by Duffy himself, facing the same judge (John Darrah) has now been tossed out as well, siding with Cooper/Godfread over their claims that the lawsuit violated Minnesota’s anti-SLAPP law.