Law360 features recent success of firm in Netflix defamation suit
A recent Law360 news article assessed the significance of the firm persuading a trial court judge to deny Netflix’s request to dismiss a defamation lawsuit related to a program dramatizing the “Varsity Blues” college admissions scandal.
The news article indicates that the denial of the motion to dismiss “is a warning to media companies when blurring the line between documentary and drama.”
A Barnstable Superior Court judge ruled that the firm’s client, John Wilson, who ultimately had nearly every one of his convictions resulting from the scandal overturned on appeal, can continue pursuing his claims that Netflix inaccurately grouped him in with other parents who had bribed their kids' ways into top colleges.
Wilson’s son, John Wilson Jr., also a plaintiff in the case, was a highly accomplished water polo player and a member of the United States Olympic development program, and who was legitimately recruited by Division 1 college programs. He also legitimately achieved high scores on his college entrance exams.
Christian Kiely told Law360 that the family tried to explain to the documentary filmmakers before the movie was aired that their situation was unique.
"Prior to Netflix releasing the film, our office sent a detailed letter attaching voluminous public records from the criminal case and putting them on notice that John Wilson was very differently situated from the other parents featured in the film, all of whom had pleaded guilty to egregious fraud," Mr. Kiely said.
He agreed with other attorneys quoted in the article that defeating Netflix’s motion to dismiss is significant given the inherent challenges of successfully suing a media defendant for defamation.
“Any time a public figure plaintiff is filing a defamation suit against a media defendant,” Mr. Kiely said, “they're in for an uphill battle, even just surviving a motion to dismiss. Courts tend to scrutinize such complaints very closely."
Howard Cooper is also working on the case.