Summary: After being falsely accused by a now-fugitive, Facebook is not about to let the attorneys that represented Paul Ceglia get away with aiding his attempts.
Five years ago, already known con-artist Paul Ceglia attempted to sue Facebook for 84 percent ownership. He produced paperwork that allegedly showed Mark Zuckerberg and Ceglia had made an agreement in 2003 that Zuckerberg would help Ceglia with his webpages.
In 2009, Ceglia had been charged with 12 counts of fourth-degree grand larceny and one count of first-degree scheme to defraud. Then-Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo placed a restraining order upon Ceglia from accepting advance payments from customers stating he “had lied to customers and solicited new orders” when he knew he could not “deliver products as promised.”
In his suit against Facebook, Ceglia was represented by his longtime counsel Paul Argentieri. His other legal representation, law firms Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman, DLA Piper, and Connors & Vilardo dropped out of the case once they realized the documents Ceglia was trying to pass off as a contract was forged.
Facebook doesn’t see it this way. They are now targeting the law firms and Argentieri for even allowing Ceglia to move forward with his lawsuit when they knew the documents weren’t real. Argentieri has opted for a more defensive stance, while the law firms are trying to get the lawsuit against them from Facebook thrown out.
The three firms will go before the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division’s First Department to argue their stance on the Facebook lawsuit. They claim that Facebook failed to meet the standards for a “special injury” and a malicious prosecution claim so the case should have been thrown out. They also claim that Facebook is now targeting and retaliating against them for being Ceglia’s counsel.
Ceglia is currently on the run and assumed to be out of the country with his family after removing his government issued tracking device.
Photo: yaulaw.com