Folks saying imply issues about you on the web doesn’t entitle you to hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in damages. That’s the results of a recent California case the place landlord lawyer Dennis P. Block took “imply tweets” to a brand new stage and sued a tenant advocacy group referred to as BASTA over a parody Twitter account allegedly run by a contractor they’ve used.
Block claimed the account prompted emotional misery, decreasing his agency morale a lot {that a} star litigator defected to get out from the mockery.
Immoral? Block gave an interview in 2007 calling it his “patriotic duty” to evict people from their homes. No matter he thinks about his personal job, that worldview matches fairly squarely into what a tenant rights group — and a whole lot of civilized society — would characterize as “immoral.” Appears an terrible lot like a protected assertion of opinion to me.
Incompetent? On the one hand, Block’s been fairly profitable all through his profession. However, he’s one of many small however hilarious clutch of attorneys caught citing fake caselaw, presumably by means of some ChatGPT screw up. Which at the very least opens you as much as just a little competency ribbing.
However even when these weren’t all completely accepted topics for opinion commentary and parody… the account has roughly 150 followers! A man snug telling a serious newspaper that he thinks it’s an obligation to kick folks onto the road can’t begin clutching his pearls as a result of 150 folks snort at him. Gotta have harder pores and skin than that if he needs to posture as a hardnosed landlord lawyer who shrugs off sob tales like gnats.
Extra folks learn this random parody account as a result of of this lawsuit than ever would’ve discovered it in any other case. That is simply an epic Streisand-ing.
Tenant advocates prevail in libel lawsuit over mocking tweets [Daily Journal]
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Regulation and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Be happy to email any suggestions, questions, or feedback. Observe him on Twitter when you’re serious about legislation, politics, and a wholesome dose of faculty sports activities information. Joe additionally serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.
