Liebowitz Files 556 Copyright Lawsuits In 2018
Attorney Richard Liebowitz was again the most prolific filers of copyright lawsuits in 2018. His law firm bested their last year’s number of 461 cases filed by nearly 100. He filed a very impressive 556 copyright cases in 2018.
The Valleystream, New York based attorney primarily represents copyright holders in photography based claims. Liebowitz is widely regarded as the nation’s biggest copyright troll. His critics include not only the targets of his rapid-fire litigating, but also multiple judges in New York who have labeled him a copyright troll on the record. He has been sanctioned multiple times for abusive practices. TechDirt reported that opposing counsels who are beginning to leverage Liebowitz’s reputation to force is clients to post expensive bonds in litigation.
This astounding number of filings reflects the work of a pair of associate attorneys. Associate attorneys that appeared on some of his cases include Attorney James H Freeman and Attorney Joseph Anthony Dunne.
Liebowitz is still primarily a New York phenomenon, all but a handful of his cases were filed in New York. See breakdown below. He partnered on some cases with other law firms outside of New York:
Tennessee – Attorney James R Wiggington of Tennyson & Wigginton
New Jersey – Attorney Ben David Manevitz of the Manevitz Law Firm
North Carolina – Attorney Seth Lee Hudson of Clements Bernard Walker, PLLC –
California – Attorney Imran F Vakil
NEW YORK
Southern District – 363
Easter District – 89
Western District – 6
Northern District – 5
OUTSIDE OF NEW YORK
California – 3
Texas – 13
Colorado – 11
Missouri – 7
Illinois – 5
New Jersey – 4
Read or join the discussion about Richard Liebowitz in in the Richard Liebowitz Forum Section.
When will you post statistics about 2019? I am trying to figure out what the chances are of me getting sued by Higbee & Associates. I have got them down from $14,500 to $9,200, but they are now threatening to sue me. $9200 is a lot of salami.
We will post some mid-year statistics soon. Though, the best indicator of your chances of getting sued have more to do with your case. If they think they have a clear cut case of copyright infringement and they think you have assets, they will likely sue you if they think your offer is not reasonable. Offering something is smart, as it reduces the chances they will sue you. Making some offer reduces the chances of getting sued for a couple of reasons. First, if it is a reasonable offer, a smart attorney will accept it instead of risking looking bad in front of a judge. Second, a smart attorney will usually accept low but reasonable offer and spend time litigating other claims.
No big hurry for my part. I settled it today. I will check back just out of curiousness at some point or maybe I will just now leave this in my past. Any way, thanks.
Can’t the court put a limit on how many cases a lawyer files? That type of practice seems so far over the top that it is abusing the system.