Harro
A group of aqurium hobbyists who frequent the Internet
Aquatic Plant
Digest have been sued in Federal court for $15,000,000
by Robert Novak
d/b/a petswarehouse.com. The lawsuit was filed in the
U.S. District
Court
for the Eastern District of New York. All of the
defendants reside
outside of New York. The lawsuit involves allegations of defamation for
certain messages that were posted to the Aquatic Plant Digest.
A number of the named defendants have no liability
insurance which will
cover this lawsuit. As New York is one of the most
expensive
jurisdictions for handling litigation, a special
defense fund is
being set up to help defray the legal expenses
involved in the lawsuit.
It is estimated that preliminary legal expenses will
run about $15,000
for the group. If the case proceeds to trial
attorney's fees and
expenses will run upwards of $50,000.
To date a number of fellow aquarists who are also attorneys have volunteered
their time on a pro bono basis. The defendants will still need to retain
local counsel to defend them in the lawsuit.
This is a special request for financial assistance to
aid in the
defense
of this lawsuit. All contributions are important no
matter how large or
small. If you would like to contribute to the defense
fund please send
your monetary contribution (check, money order or bank
draft), payable
to John Benn, Trust Account, to the law offices of
John R. Benn &
Associates, 104 West Third Street, Sheffield, AL
35660. All
contributions
will be acknowledged. A special web page listing all
contributors by
name or initials will be established shortly. Your
contribution may
remain anonymous; if that is your choice, please note
it along with
your
contribution.
If you wish to contribute by credit card or PayPal
please visit the web
site at http://www.paypal.com The email ID for
contributions is
jbenn at jblaw.org
In the event that contributions exceed the legal
expenses (everyone
hopes
for an early dismissal of the lawsuit) any unused
funds will be
submitted
as a donation to the World Wildlife Fund.
If you are interested in learning more about this
lawsuit, the
individual
aquarists who have been sued, or the latest litigation
news, please
visit
CompuServe's Aquaria/Fish Forum at URL
http://go.compuserve.com/fishnet.
If you are interested in contributing any professional
services to the
defense effort, please contact John Benn at
JBenn at jblaw.org.
Please feel free to distribute this notice to other aquarists, hobbyists,
pet lovers and all those you think feel strongly about defending the issues
at stake. On behalf of the defendants in this lawsuit, I will express our
collective appreciation for your contributions.
John Benn
JBenn at jblaw.org
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