Hi, hope you’re enjoying the fall weather!
Here’s the latest on Rall v. LA Times.
As you may recall, the Times won their anti-SLAPP motion against me in LA Superior Court, and we are appealing that to the Court of Appeals.
We’re optimistic, but in the meantime the Times has filed their attorneys’ fees with the Court and is demanding that I pay them $340,000. That’s right — the LA Times defamed me, and now they’re abusing the law to try to bankrupt me!
There’s a court hearing about the Times’ insane legal bills on November 20; if you’d like to attend please let me know.
Among the highlights:
Times lawyer Kelli Sager charges $705 an hour to defend them against the people they libel, instead of simply publishing a retraction and an apology for their lies. No wonder newspapers are in financial trouble!
One of the defendant corporate entities, Tribune Media, ceased to relate to newspapers in a complicated restructuring that my previous lawyer didn’t know about. Sager was supposed to tell my former lawyer; that’s standard legal ethics. She didn’t. Yet she is billing more than $30,000 just defending that defendant…when she could simply have told my lawyer for the cost of a phone call.
If the Times wins on November 20th, they will likely go after the $75,000 bond posted in 2016 as a result of a previous court order. If that happens and I prevail at appeal, we’ll get it back.
Thank you for your support and, if you’ve been following the fight between Disney and the LA Times, remember: the LA Times are not First Amendment heroes.
Rall v. LA Times: Now They Want Me To Pay Them $340,000
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12 Comments.
Disney isn’t exactly a First Amendment Hero, either. “Grimm’s Fairy Tales” (“Kinder und Hausmärchen” for our offshore readers) was first published in 1812 and the Brothers Grimm are long dead; but if you step anywhere near the Enchanted Forest you risk being sued by the law firm Chernabog & McDuck,
That said – I wish I owned a “news”-paper. I could screw people over & charge them for the privilege of seeking equal justice under the law. Boy howdy would I ever screw people over! I wouldn’t even have to hire journalists or typesetters. Such a deal.
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Luck be with ye’ Ted.
But Ted, see it from the LA Times‘ point of view. They’re obviously desperate for cash to keep the organisation going ; why else would I receive an offer of the type «Just for you! 12 FREE WEEKS!» in my mailbox ? «Freedom of speech or of the press» isn’t free, you know….
Henri
Good luck Man.
(not as powerful as God Bless, is it? … I hate that.)
My atheist prayers are with you.
Thanks, y’all. All prayers, atheist and otherwise, are welcome. Even more helpful, of course, is public pressure on these curs.
What I fail to understand, Ted, is why I don’t see more US editorial cartoonists – or indeed, any US editorial cartoonists publicly supporting you. You were, after all, president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists as recently as 2008-2009, so you must at least then have been in good repute among your colleagues. Are cartoonist gigs really that precarious in the US that no one dares speak out for a colleague ? Are editorial cartoonists really so far under the thumbs of US media owners ?…
Henri
I can’t get into details, but many of my fellow cartoonists have been quite supportive in meaningful ways. That said, there is a sad reluctance among cartoonists to attack a major outlet like Tronc for fear of being blackballed.
Good to hear about the support, Ted, I was, as noted above, wondering. But you response confirms my suspicions when it comes to reluctance to confront a major outlet, which, given the balance of power, is hardly surprising. A «MeToo» movement is needed, not merely for those subject to sexual predation, but even and perhaps still more, for those subject to economic predation. (not that the wheel has to be re-invented; that movement is called trade or industrial unionism, almost extinguished, I am told, in the United States)….
Henri
Have you thought about the possibility of a mal-practice suit against our 1st law firm?
I was wondering about, at the very least, a formal complaint to the California Bar Association. What’s up, Ted?
What about it?
Yes. I am considering that.
One the other hand, Ted, getting back to that original «jaywalking» charge, the LA PD obviously got you dead to rights ; surely you don’t expect your readers to believe that one of that eminent organisation’s «officers» (and no doubt, «gentlemen» as well) would ever lie about the evidence ?…
Henri