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Mark Geragos, a prominent plaintiffs’ lawyer in Southern California, has filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Times and three reporters over allegations that the newspaper defamed him in a series of stories regarding a $17.5 million settlement for Armenian genocide insurance cases. Geragos and Brian Kabateck were two lawyers involved in groundbreaking cases that allowed Armenians to recover insurance payments for the deaths of their family members in a genocide that ravaged their country more than a century ago.
According to the lawsuit, the newspaper ran stories in March 2021 that Geragos alleges defamed and painted him falsely. The articles claimed corrupt acts spoiled reparations by diverting funds to outsiders. The lawsuit further alleges that the Times manufactured allegations against Geragos and pressured the State Bar of California to launch a public investigation of the long-closed matter and then relied on this investigation to defame Geragos in subsequent articles repeatedly.
The lawsuit claims that “the totality of the circumstances, including the repeated defamation and portrayal of Mr. Geragos in a false light, in the face of credible evidence disproving the narrative advanced by the LAT, demonstrates Defendants’ malice towards him.” Geragos is seeking damages on state claims of libel, false light invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The stories on the lawsuit against AXA SA, a French insurance company, were “based on unreliable information from witnesses whose veracity should have been questioned,” the lawsuit said. “Moreover, the LAT ignored the information and evidence provided by Mr. Geragos’ offices and published the story they had already written in complete disregard for the truth.”
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In September 2021, the California State Bar announced it was investigating Geragos and Kabateck over the dispersals of insurance settlement. In announcing the ethics probe, the bar thanked the newspaper “for its excellent reporting on the distribution of Armenian Genocide settlement funds.” However, the bar stressed that the announcement was not “an indication of any misconduct by the attorneys being investigated.”
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The lawsuit said that Geragos and Kabateck uncovered the theft of settlement funds by co-class counsel, who the pair sued to recoup the funds and ensure amends were made. Geragos claims that the newspaper’s allegations were based on unreliable information and ignored evidence from his offices.
Geragos said in a statement that he was confident that the discovery and litigation would show that the Times had an agenda motivated by malice. The newspaper declined to comment on the filing.
Geragos is represented by Geragos & Geragos APC, a law firm based in Los Angeles. The lawsuit raises important questions about the role of the media in shaping public opinion and the responsibility of journalists to ensure that their reporting is based on reliable and accurate information. It remains to be seen how the lawsuit will be resolved, but it will have far-reaching implications for the legal profession and the media industry.
