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Home > Gorman v. Jacobs

Gorman v. Jacobs [1]

Submitted by DMLP Staff on Wed, 02/18/2009 - 19:06

Summary

Threat Type: 

Lawsuit

Date: 

05/05/2008

Status: 

Pending

Disposition: 

Dismissed (total)

Location: 

Pennsylvania

Verdict or Settlement Amount: 

N/A

Legal Claims: 

Defamation
False Light
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
Jack Gorman, a doctor of podiatric medicine, sued fellow podiatrists Allen Jacobs, John Levin, and Richard Benjamin for defamation and other tort claims based on comments they wrote on Podiatry Management Online's news forum, PM News "The Voice of Podiatrists". ... read full description
Parties

Party Receiving Legal Threat: 

Allen Jacobs; John Levin; Richard Benjamin

Type of Party: 

Individual

Type of Party: 

Individual

Location of Party: 

  • Pennsylvania

Location of Party: 

  • Florida
  • Missouri
  • District of Columbia

Legal Counsel: 

Thomas F. Sacchetta - Sacchetta & Baldino

Legal Counsel: 

Chilton G. Goebel, III - German, Gallagher & Murtagh (for Jacobs); William F. Conway - Swartz Campell LLC (for Levin); Thomas P. Bracaglia - Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman Goggin (for Benjamin)
Description

Jack Gorman, a doctor of podiatric medicine, sued fellow podiatrists Allen Jacobs, John Levin, and Richard Benjamin for defamation and other tort claims based on comments they wrote on Podiatry Management Online's news forum, PM News "The Voice of Podiatrists" [2].  The comments related to an article published in the Malpractice News section of PM News, which addressed malpractice insurance rates and contained quotes from an interview with Gorman.  According to court documents, two of the defendants' comments criticized Gorman's work as an expert for plaintiffs' lawyers in malpractice cases and another generally advocated reporting outrageous expert testimony to ethical authorities for investigation.  

Gorman inititally filed three separate lawsuits against Jacobs, Levin, and Benjamin, but the federal district court in Pennsylvania consolidated the cases.  The defendants all filed motions to dismiss the complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction and failure to state a claim.  In February 2009, the court granted [3] the motions to dismiss, holding that it lacked personal jurisdiction over the defendants because they had not expressly aimed their comments into Pennsylvania.

Details

Web Site(s) Involved: 

PM News "The Voice of Podiatrists" [2]

Content Type: 

  • Text

Publication Medium: 

Forum

Subject Area: 

  • Personal Jurisdiction
  • User Comments or Submissions
Court Information & Documents

Jurisdiction: 

  • Pennsylvania

Source of Law: 

  • United States
  • Pennsylvania

Court Name: 

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Court Type: 

Federal

Case Number: 

Civ. No. 08-2097

Relevant Documents: 

PDF icon 2008-05-05-Gorman Complaint.pdf [4]
PDF icon 2008-05-21-Exhibit to Gorman Complaint.pdf [5]
PDF icon 2008-05-29-Order Consolidating Gorman Cases.pdf [6]
PDF icon 2008-10-09-Jacobs Motion to Dismiss.pdf [7]
PDF icon 2008-10-13-Levin Motion to Dismiss.pdf [8]
PDF icon 2008-11-03-Benjamin Motion to Dismiss.pdf [9]
PDF icon 2008-10-28-Opposition to Jacobs Motion to Dismiss.pdf [10]
PDF icon 2008-11-19-Gorman Response to Levin Motion to Dismiss.pdf [11]
PDF icon 2008-11-21-Gorman Response to Benjamin Motion to Dismiss.pdf [12]
PDF icon 2009-02-09-Memorandum Opinion in Gorman v. Jacobs.pdf [13]
CMLP Information (Private)

Priority: 

1-High

Threat Source: 

Westlaw Alert

CMLP Notes: 

check for appeal.

DMLP Logo


Source URL (modified on 08/20/2014 - 11:08pm): https://www.dmlp.org/threats/gorman-v-jacobs

Links
[1] https://www.dmlp.org/threats/gorman-v-jacobs
[2] http://www.podiatrym.com/pmnews.cfm
[3] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2009-02-09-Memorandum Opinion in Gorman v. Jacobs.pdf
[4] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-05-05-Gorman%20Complaint.pdf
[5] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-05-21-Exhibit%20to%20Gorman%20Complaint.pdf
[6] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-05-29-Order%20Consolidating%20Gorman%20Cases.pdf
[7] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-10-09-Jacobs%20Motion%20to%20Dismiss.pdf
[8] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-10-13-Levin%20Motion%20to%20Dismiss.pdf
[9] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-11-03-Benjamin%20Motion%20to%20Dismiss.pdf
[10] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-10-28-Opposition%20to%20Jacobs%20Motion%20to%20Dismiss.pdf
[11] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-11-19-Gorman%20Response%20to%20Levin%20Motion%20to%20Dismiss.pdf
[12] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-11-21-Gorman%20Response%20to%20Benjamin%20Motion%20to%20Dismiss.pdf
[13] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2009-02-09-Memorandum%20Opinion%20in%20Gorman%20v.%20Jacobs.pdf