Monsarrat v. Newman, and does 1-100, Civ. A. No. 2013-0399-C (Mass. Super. Ct. 2013)
A onetime member of a LiveJournal online user community, focused on Somerville’s Davis Square neighborhood, filed a mass defamation and conspiracy lawsuit against the forum’s moderator and 100 of its members, claiming more than $500,000 in damages. Representing the moderator, Dan Booth responded decisively to the lawsuit, detailing the complaint’s shortcomings in a widely publicized letter to the plaintiff’s counsel. We persuaded the plaintiff to dismiss all claims against all parties with prejudice at a preliminary stage of the lawsuit, without even filing a motion to dismiss.
- Jarret Bencks, Lawsuit against Somerville message board users dropped, Boston.com (June 11, 2013)
- Dan Kennedy, A victory for independent local media, Media Nation (June 19, 2013)
- Mike Masnick, Jonathan Monsarrat Drops Ridiculous Lawsuit Against Online Commenters, Techdirt (July 10, 2013)
- Julie McMahon, Lengthy letter calls out plaintiffs’ counsel for dubious defamation suit, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly (July 11, 2013)
- Mike Masnick, Bogus Lawsuit Plus Threats To Those Who Write About It Leads To Epic Response, Techdirt (May 17, 2013)
- Marcia Dick, Posters on Somerville message board facing lawsuit, Boston.com (May 14, 2013)