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Home > Sovereign Partners Limited Partnership v. Worst

Sovereign Partners Limited Partnership v. Worst [1]

Submitted by DMLP Staff on Wed, 10/08/2008 - 23:26

Summary

Threat Type: 

Lawsuit

Date: 

01/26/1999

Status: 

Concluded

Disposition: 

Withdrawn

Location: 

New York

Verdict or Settlement Amount: 

N/A

Legal Claims: 

Defamation
In January 1999, Sovereign Partners Limited Partnership, Dominion Capital Fund Limited, and Stephen M. Hicks, filed a defamation action alleging that they had been falsely accused of manipulating the stock of small public companies by engaging in short selling designed to drive... read full description
Parties

Party Receiving Legal Threat: 

Restaurant Teams International, Inc.; Curtis A. Swanson; Stanley L. Swanson; Harry McMillan; Lee Walsh; Marc Stager; Consygen, Inc.; Thomas Dreaper; Mark Weiss; "Tech"; "Falcon74"; Eric Davidson; and Francis G. Worst

Type of Party: 

Individual
Large Organization

Type of Party: 

Individual
Organization

Location of Party: 

  • Texas

Location of Party: 

  • New York
  • Florida
  • Arkansas

Legal Counsel: 

Barbara Moses - Morvillo, Abramowitz, Grand, Iason, Anello & Bohrer, P.C ; Dennis M. LaRochelle - Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

Legal Counsel: 

Bruce A. Smith - Harbour, Smith, Harris & Merritt; Eric Martin Turkewitz
Description

In January 1999, Sovereign Partners Limited Partnership, Dominion Capital Fund Limited, and Stephen M. Hicks, filed a defamation action alleging that they had been falsely accused of manipulating the stock of small public companies by engaging in short selling designed to drive the stock prices into a “death spiral.” The defendants include Restaurant Teams International, Inc., its chief financial officer Curtis A. Swanson, and its chief executive officer Stanley L. Swanson, who published a press release containing the purportedly defamatory statements. The defendants also include ConSyGen, Inc. and its former chief executive officer Thomas Dreaper, who allegedly disseminated a similar press release. Finally, the plaintiffs sued four persons, including Francis Worst, who they alleged posted defamatory statements on Internet financial bulletin boards.

After a number of defendants settled and issued public apologies recanting the allegations of illegal conduct on the part of the plaintiffs, Francis Worst filed a motion to dismiss and sought sanctions against the plaintiffs for filing the lawsuit against him.

According to Worst's attorney, Eric Turkewitz [2], "we explained to their lawyers that the message was already public, that the reprinting was certainly not done with any kind of malice, that Mr. Worst was unaware of any defamatory content, that he had not added any original content, and that injury, if any, was inadvertent and not attributable to Mr. Worst."

On January 12, 2001, the court allowed the plaintiffs to withdraw their lawsuit in the face of Worst's motion to dismiss and denied his request for sanctions.

Related Links: 

  • Eric Turkewitz: The Very Strange Case of Francis Worst and His Life as a Defamation Defendant [2]
  • Business Wire: Investors Amend Defamation Complaint Filed Against ConSyGen and Restaurant Teams [3]
Details

Content Type: 

  • Text

Publication Medium: 

Forum

Subject Area: 

  • Defamation
  • Financial Forums
Court Information & Documents

Jurisdiction: 

  • New York

Source of Law: 

  • New York

Court Name: 

United States District Court, Southern District of New York

Court Type: 

Federal

Case Number: 

1:99-cv-00564
CMLP Information (Private)

Priority: 

1-High

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Source URL (modified on 08/20/2014 - 11:04pm): https://www.dmlp.org/threats/sovereign-partners-limited-partnership-v-worst

Links
[1] https://www.dmlp.org/threats/sovereign-partners-limited-partnership-v-worst
[2] http://www.turkewitzlaw.com/cases/internet-defamation-cyberlibel-first-amendment.htm
[3] http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1999_Oct_4/ai_55971043