peteconnolly.co.uk

The bad penny always comes back to haunt you.

I thought that my moment of exposure to the harsh glare of Jeff Merkey's legal barratry had passed. His threats to sue me for various reasons (breach of an agreement that I could never legally have seen and libel) disappeared from his vanity site merkeylaw. Tonight, alas, he's back.

Quite aptly, his comment on this article (#19) was caught by my spam trap so I received email notification that he was back again. Good thing that I did, since if he thinks the best way to serve notice of upcoming legal action is to post comments on an old article in a blog, then he's got some learning to do. Do me the favour of at least sending me an email if you feel you must sue me. There's even a special, high-priority, preferential treatment email address for jeff.

To save anyone the hassle of going back there, here's what he says.

Dear Mr. Connoly,

I'll ignore the lack of attention to detail, Jef.

Please remove all content and google links regarding me from this website immediately. If you do not comply, I will add you as a defendant in the Federal Lawsuit and seek damages.

I've asked these questions before, and I'll keep asking them. WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? Just tell me and if I agree that I've libelled you (if indeed that's what you want to do?) I will make amends. What law have I broken or how have I libelled you? You're a bright bloke, jeff, and you've obviously got lots of time on your hands, so surely you can answer the few questions I asked you before. Here they are again:

Please provide me with information with respect to:

Factual inaccuracies or unsupportable comment within the words complained of; the Claimant should give a sufficient explanation to enable the Defendant to appreciate why the words are inaccurate or unsupportable;

What is the nature of the remedies sought by the Claimant.

Please provide details of any special facts relevant to the interpretation of the words complained of and/or any particular damage caused by the words complained of.

It is desirable for the Claimant to identify the meaning(s) he/she attributes to the words complained of.

If you wish to sue me for libel, these are some of the first written questions that you will be compelled to answer in writing to a UK court as part of the UK pre-trial protocol for libel. If you're out to do me under some other pretext, I'll ask the same questions. Point out the content that you feel should be removed and I will give it my full attention.

You have 5 days to comply or you will be added and served.

Jeff V. Merkey

5 days from when? The moment you posted the comment on my blog? The moment my spamtrap classed you amongst the v14gr4 peddlers? The moment I saw your comment and released it?

You really need to clarify this Jeff. I can't help you any further if you don't.

Posted by pete at August 5, 2005 10:02 PM | TrackBack