Laura's Links is taking a brief hiatus today in order that Laura may tend an ill family member. Our prayers are with Laura and her family for a speedy recovery.
UPDATE: Mark's attorney Christopher Bartolomucci has just noticed the court that Mann has failed to respond to our calculation of fees due under the sanctions order:
The Sanctions Order also directed Mann to "file any response within fourteen days of Defendants' filings in support of the sanction award[.]" Sanctions Order at 45. Mann's response therefore was due on April 9, 2025, more than a week ago. Mann, however, did not file a response. It is now too late for him to do so.
Because Mann did not respond, Steyn's calculation of his fees and costs should be treated as conceded...
Steyn is aware that Mann's motion for reconsideration filed on April 8, 2025, includes a short argument in the alternative as to Steyn's fee request... Steyn will respond to that paper—which is a reconsideration motion, not a response to Steyn's fee submission as directed by this Court—in due course.
In sum, Steyn's calculation of $27,579.40 in fees and costs should be treated as conceded.
It's on!
Just as most of the team was en route to Barcelona for The Mark Steyn Cruise, we received numerous notifications that a number of court filings - including appeals to the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia - were underway in the never-ending lawfare initiated by Michael E. Mann against Mark and his co-defendants.
In our last update, we mentioned that DC Superior Court Judge Alfred S. Irving, Jr. denied Mann's attempt to stall payment of the half-million dollars he has been ordered to pay National Review (NR).
Delaying payment of an Anti-SLAPP Act fee award would prolong the award recipient's loss of funds to meritless litigation and erode the compensatory value of the award. (Cf. Fed. Prescription Serv., 636 F.2d at 760)
True to form (he still hasn't paid Tim Ball's widow what he owes in his other lawfare case) - Mann hasn't paid up. And, in a recent filing with the DC Court of Appeals, Mann says he will be asking them for "relief" from Irving's order.
In addition, Mann and two of his lawyers John Williams and Peter Fontaine have engaged another attorney to represent them in the sanctions they received for lying to the jury. According to Mann's 10th, 12th, 36th lawyer:
...the Court engaged in its own analysis of the evidence well beyond what the parties argued in the motions for sanctions, and in the process reached erroneous conclusions that are inconsistent with evidence the Court might not have possessed or appreciated.
The Court rejected simple and benign explanations of the Attorneys' conduct, which are corroborated by overwhelming evidence, and instead concluded that two longtime members of the bar deliberately made false statements to the Court and introduced false evidence...
Good luck with that...
As is often the case with all these high-priced attorneys, the new guy hadn't bothered with the basics so filed his lengthy motion in excess of the page limit set by the court and chambers. So, yesterday, he had to file another motion seeking to exceed the page limit on the motion that was already filed in excess of the page limit...
The advantage of non-lawyers representing themselves is that they take the time to read the rules: Which is why when Mark wanted to file a particularly large motion, he filed the motion within the limit and offered an extended version separately in the event the Judge wanted to entertain a particularly specious argument from Mann.
Why bother paying some guy $800/ an hour or whatever if they can't even manage to have their paralegal scan the rules of the judge you are about to beg to reverse a decision that is completely within his gift?
Oh, and apparently the courthouse wasn't even open yesterday to receive the delinquent filing... Happy Belated DC Emancipation Day everyone!!
Thank you to all of those on the cruise who made a point to speak with me about this case and express their support for Mark's battle for free speech. It was most uplifting!
Check out our various free speech related merchandise and gift certificates available in the Steyn Store. And, if you are not yet a member of The Mark Steyn Club, or your membership has lapsed, please consider joining today!
