Thread by @LawoftheGame

OK, I'm back from the hearing. And I'm going to go through my notes like last time, but I want to lead with the TL:DR version.

TLDR:
1. Most of the hearing was going over foundation to enter in 3 law firms worth of bills.
2. Vic testified. You'll want to read that part.
3. No one called Ty, Ron, or Monica (all present).
4. Judge Chupp is going to try to rule tomorrow.

Relatively light attendance today, especially compared to the full house for the TCPA hearing. Someone (likely Ty) complained about the lawyers using devices in front of the rail at the TCPA, so the bailiff forced everyone not appearing behind the wall.

On P's side, we had Hsu and Martinez, plus a later add who I assume was Sellers. Also, Ty and Vic because of the subpoenas. On D's side, we had a whole cavalcade, but mostly because the leads had to have someone to question them about the bills.

First up: motion for Continuance. Denied. So much for all those "well they'll get that for sure" assumptions. Moving on...

JSL took the stand to prove up his bills and I'm going to shortcut a lot of this because it's not terribly fascinating. The jist of it for all 3 who did it was: I'm an attorney, here's everyone on my bill, here's their rates, here's why their rates are what they are...

here's why those numbers are reasonable, and here's why the billing entries are reasonable. Here's the list of expenses and why they're reasonable.

Aside: I've read a lot of bills. Their bills are in no way unusual, remarkable, or atypical. I've also seen all the rates. None of them are off base. Big firms charge more than small ones. Attys who are "the best" in a field cost more than those who aren't known for that...

just like a Lexus costs more than a Kia. None of these rates are wildly out of line with the DFW market, or the "big city" Texas markets in general. (end Aside)

Martinez made basically the same objections over and over to all of these: Your rates are too high, your billing entries aren't specific enough, and the redactions make it so I can't tell what you did.

None of these objections seemed to go over well, particularly the last one (as unredacted copies were provided to the Judge for review behind closed doors).

JSL also got into why Ron/Monica's case was more complex (and therefore costly) than the others. In summary, there were more tweets, they were provided without context, theirs included the CDA/retweet issue, etc.

JSL also notes that he didn't bill for watching Nick. "Only one of us should have to suffer through it, and my clients shouldn't have to pay for it." He did also point out how Nick exposed Plaintiff's hand on more than one occasion, which allowed them to strategize better.

There was also quite a bit of trying to push the idea that coordinating with other counsel was somehow "overbilling." This is just a dumb road to go down, as coordinating can lead to lower bills and avoid duplication of certain work, but they pushed it anyway.

All we got through before the break was JSL. So 10:30-almost noon spent on that. At the end of the break, the court coordinator said "We're going to be here until we're done." Everyone was hoping that wouldn't be all night.

After the break, it was brought up Vic had a flight to catch, so he was put on the stand. This was probably the highlight of the day.

First up: JSL presents Vic with the Original Petition. Vic promptly admits he's never read it.

Moving on, there's a graphic showing all of the cons that were alleged as TI in the petition and the date of the cancellations. And we get into a line of questioning...

JSL: Do you believe all Defs interfered with all conventions?
Vic: Yes
JSL: Let's go by defendant. Any evidence Marchi interfered with all 11?
Vic: No.
JSL: Any evidence she interfered with any of the 11?
Vic: No.
JSL: Rial - All 11?
Vic: No, but the list may not be complete...

...
JSL: Toye - All 11?
Vic: I believe it but I have no evidence.
JSL: Funimation - All 11?
Vic: I've been told that.
JSL: And it's because of their tweet, right?
Vic: Yes.
JSL: The tweet of 2/11, right?
Vic: Yes.
...

...
JSL: Please explain how a tweet made on 2/11 impacted cancellations, the last of which occurred before 2/10?

That's a paraphrase, but you get the idea.

Let's just say it doesn't get better for Vic from here.

Next exhibit: Vic Affidavit.
JSL: Have you seen this before?
Vic: Not a printed version.
JSL: Where were you when this was signed?
Vic: I don't know.

Judge Chupp: Let's make sanctions on the notary a separate hearing. Move on.

JSL: Did you read Ahmed's affidavit, which you denied the allegations from in your affidavit?
Vic: No, my attorney briefed me on it.
JSL: McManus?
Vic: I don't know who that is.

There was a lot of attempt to discuss the GoFundMe, but Judge Chupp really wasn't interested. They also showed the "weaponize my channel" discord screenshot, but that didn't get any interest either.

But we get to another gem...
JSL: What's your net worth?
Vic: No idea.
JSL: How much did the trust pay for your house?
Vic: I...
Judge Chupp: Did you transfer your house to a trust after I signed the order?
Vic: I don't know.

...and then JSL presents the trust documents.

After a break, Hsu was questioning Vic. Most of these questions called for speculation about the causes of cancellations, were objected to, and sustained.

Vic on Nick: "I foolishly consider everyone a friend." Ouch for Nick.

After a bit of a show by Vic about how "he had no choice but to file the lawsuit," JSL has one final question: Is it fair to say you had to file this lawsuit to shut people up?

Judge Chupp (to Vic): Do you feel like your case was hijacked?
Vic: It spiraled out of control.

At this point, Vic leaves and Ty goes with him. Ty is gone for basically all of Volney's testimony. Which, again, is mostly billing related stuff.

Volney actually went through the objections filed that morning point by point and dismantled them. Pretty impressive to be done that quickly.

JSL tries to use Volney to get a transcript of Beard/Nick in, but fails. At this point, Chupp is clearly not interested, and it was the right call to walk away from it.

Judge Chupp asks Volney why his bills is less than JSL, and we see the same repeated for Sam Johnson re: his bill compared to the others. Hard to tell if he was just giving everyone a hard time or was completely serious. That said, JSL's bill is for 2 Defendants...

so on a per defendant basis, Funimation was actually the highest fees, followed by Ron and Monica, then Jamie. But as Sam admitted, the others did a bunch of heavy lifting that left Jamie with a lower bill. (Plus, small firms are always less expensive.)

Martinez also spent a bit of time getting into how much the Defendants have actually paid, but Judge Chupp didn't seem to care in advance of this hearing. It isn't a long wait for something determinative.

Sam made a few specific points on the billing discrepancy when the Judge asked: JSL had 2 clients to his 1, and he was only dealing with 1 tweet to their hundreds. He "had a lot less to deal with."

Judge Chupp: Either you're not billing enough or he's billing too much.
Sam Johnson: A lot of people tell me to bill more.

Closing remarks was mostly a bit of further discussion of the differences in the amounts billed.

In Martinez's closing remarks, he cited the amended TCPA (effective in September) rather than the old one. The old one applied, and Judge Chupp corrected him.

Judge Chupp: What is sufficient to deter more suits?
Martinez: Nominal amounts? He wasn't negligent in bringing these suits because he had a legitimate belief.
Judge Chupp: But I'm not sitting here thinking about suing anyone. Vic is.

That was about the end of it. Judge Chupp said he'd probably try to rule tomorrow, since next week is Thanksgiving.

If I had to handicap it, maybe they reduce the JSL and Funi fees a bit, but not much. I also wouldn't be shocked to see an order where there's an award of some amount of fees and sanctions per defendant, the same for all 4. Whether that's$100k per or $250k per...I don't know.

I doubt he' reduces the per defendant fees to Sam Johnson's rate each. Costs should be awarded in full (none were excessive). Sanctions are the real wildcard, and it will be interested to see if Marchi ends up with more sanctions because she had less fees.

But I guess we won't be waiting long if Judge Chupp really issues the ruling tomorrow.