Lawyer Loses Case Over Mean Tweets
// People saying mean things about you on the internet doesn’t entitle you to millions of dollars in damages. That’s the result of a recent California case where landlord attorney Dennis P. Block took “mean tweets” to a new level and sued a tenant advocacy group called BASTA over a parody Twitter account allegedly run by a contractor they’ve used.
Block claimed the account caused emotional distress, lowering his firm morale so much that a star litigator defected to get out from the mockery.
googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-top-300x250" ); }); Sponsored Ontra’s Insight, Powered By GPT-4, Simplifies Fund Management From Ethan BebernessImmoral? Block gave an interview in 2007 calling it his “patriotic duty” to evict people from their homes. Whatever he thinks about his own job, that worldview fits pretty squarely into what a tenant rights group — and a lot of civilized society — would characterize as “immoral.” Seems an awful lot like a protected statement of opinion to me.
Incompetent? On the one hand, Block’s been quite successful throughout his career. On the other hand, he’s one of the small but hilarious clutch of attorneys caught citing fake caselaw, presumably through some ChatGPT screw up. Which at least opens you up to a little competency ribbing.
googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-middle-300x250" ); }); googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-storycontent-440x100" ); }); googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-in-story-youtube-1x1" ); });But even if these weren’t all perfectly accepted subjects for opinion commentary and parody… the account has roughly 150 followers! A guy comfortable telling a major newspaper that he thinks it’s a duty to kick people onto the street can’t start clutching his pearls because 150 people laugh at him. Gotta have tougher skin than that if he wants to posture as a hardnosed landlord lawyer who shrugs off sob stories like gnats.
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Tenant advocates prevail in libel lawsuit over mocking tweets [Daily Journal]
Earlier: Lawyer Calls Evicting People A ‘Patriotic Duty,’ Apparently Cite-Checking Fake Cases In Briefs Less Of A Patriotic Duty
googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-bottom-300x250" ); });Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.
Sponsored Sponsored Lexis+ AI™ And The Power Of Good Data A leader behind Lexis+ AI™ speaks on what sets LexisNexis’ artificial intelligence and machine learning products apart from the crowd. From Ethan Beberness Sponsored How You Can Use Tech To Strengthen Client Ties Many law firms are falling short. Here’s how you can avoid being one of them. From THOMSON REUTERS AND ABOVE THE LAW TopicsDennis Block, First Amendment, Free Speech, Small Law Firms
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Originally posted on: https://abovethelaw.com/2024/02/lawyer-loses-case-over-mean-tweets/