Stormy Daniels: Michael Avenatti Sued Trump for Defamation Against Her Wishes, Supposedly

Well, Avenatti was just arrested for roughing up a woman against her will. So.

So, here's the background, if you've forgotten: Avenatti/Daniels sued Trump for defamation, which was a tactical mistake, because if they got nailed under the anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation -- a nuisance suit designed to keep someone from speaking on a matter of legitimate public interest) she could get shellacked for Trump's costs and attorney's fees.

This was an awful decision. They had a weak case and the possibility of this turning into the world's first case of a porn star having to pay a guy for sex was real.

Stormy Daniels is now on the hook for, what, $300,000 in legal fees or something?

She presumably doesn't want to pay that out of her Stripper Tips.

Hmmm... who could she get to pay?

Well, I'm not saying this is what's going on, but if she could prove that Michael Avenatti made this decision on his own, he'd have to pay.

Or she could just sue him for professional malpractice, get the money for the damages from him, and then pay off Trump with that.

But who knows what's going on.

I'm genuinely surprised to see the Avenatti/Stormy partnership end in such an undignified and tawdry manner. They both seemed better than this. Classy, you know?

Oh, she also alleges that Michael Avenatti won't tell her what happened to her GoFundMe crowdfunding money.

#Basta

Thinking: Should Avenatti/Daniels have dropped the defamation claim when their lawsuit got moved out of New York -- which does not have such a great anti-SLAPP law -- and moved to California, which has a great (for defendants) anti-SLAPP law?

Is that why she filed in New York originally, despite having a welter of other lawsuits in California? To evade CA's anti-SLAPP suit?

Either way, should they have kept this claim knowing there was a real risk they were on the hook to pay off Trump's lawyers?

Could she make a professional malpractice case on these facts? It would depend on what Avenatti told her, of course, and I'm not sure she bothered to memorialize her side of things. Avenatti would probably have a habit of memorializing every meeting; but did he adequately warn her about the risks of suing for defamation in CA?

posted by Ace of Spades at 05:24 PM

| Access Comments