FYI my defamation case with Isis Lovecruft settled.
I'm checking with my lawyers about what I can say about it and the evidence we got in discovery. No NDA, so should be able to do a full writeup.
tl;dr: legal battles are ridiculously expensive and I was running out of money.
I'm checking with my lawyers about what I can say about it and the evidence we got in discovery. No NDA, so should be able to do a full writeup.
tl;dr: legal battles are ridiculously expensive and I was running out of money.
Eg May's legal bill was $23,464 USD, and discovery was just starting. Probably would have spent another $100-200k easily.
I'd have rather not settled. But I'd be spending my family's money, and I don't feel comfortable doing that when I had the option of a reasonable settlement.
I'd have rather not settled. But I'd be spending my family's money, and I don't feel comfortable doing that when I had the option of a reasonable settlement.
Lovecruft had a potential of recovering ~$50k to $100k legal fees for their anti-SLAPP motion, and also wanted to file for malicious prosecution against me. Dubious legal grounds for that. But in the US system if you run out of money, the other side tends to win by default...
...and again, I don't like that failing to settle would end up with others' feeling obligated to spend a ton of $ defending me against legal attacks. Sure, I'd likely win eventually. But I should be doing that with my money, not my family's.
Anyway, the important thing in this type of defamation case is getting the other side to commit to a story that you can actually disprove. I've been able to do that, which accomplishes most of my original goals. I'll have more to say in a week or so.
For the record the settlement itself. Really simple, four pages + signatures.
1) Both parties drop their claims.
2) Isis publishes the settlement statement.
3) I agree not to sue anyone else in the case for actions/statements prior to June 3rd.
That's it. No money, NDAs, etc.
1) Both parties drop their claims.
2) Isis publishes the settlement statement.
3) I agree not to sue anyone else in the case for actions/statements prior to June 3rd.
That's it. No money, NDAs, etc.
The only interesting thing is the last term, which their initial wording could have applied to *future* statements as well. 😂 Past is easy to agree too, as it'd have been really difficult to sue anyone else anyway due to various privileged speech protections that applied.
Background: thebalancesmb.com/absolute-privi…
tl;dr: you can't sue for defamation for anything said in a court, to a journalist, between spouses, etc.
tl;dr: you can't sue for defamation for anything said in a court, to a journalist, between spouses, etc.
