The Mike Postle saga might have come to an end with the latest ruling from a California court provided no appeals are failed against the ruling. Presiding Judge Shama H. Mesiwala awarded Veronica Brill an amount of $27,745 which she incurred in legal fees defending herself against the $330 million defamation lawsuit that Postle filed against 12 members.
Judge Trims Down Legal Fee Amount
The lead defendant in the lawsuit was Brill who hired Marc J. Randazza who is a top first amendment attorney. The ruling in the case does not come as a surprise because Mike Postle decided to drop his anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) in April on his own accord which made it a frivolous case and opened him up to bear the legal fees for those whom he named in the lawsuit.
Ten of the individuals named in the anti-SLAPP lawsuit paid no attention to Postle’s lawsuit and ignored it. The only two people who fought the case were Brill and co-defendant Todd Witteles who wanted Postle to reimburse their legal expenses which is their right based on the laws of California regarding frivolous cases.
The Court awarded Witteles a total of $26,982 in May 2021 and dismissed the anti-SLAPP charges against him. Veronica Brill was also set to have a ruling in her case in May but her ruling was postponed to June due to factors not related to the anti-SLAPP lawsuit.
Brill and her legal team initially filed a claim for $78,600 in legal costs to be reimbursed but the judge trimmed down the amount saying that the legal costs were inflated. The judge trimmed down the legal costs by saying the number of billed hours did not support the amount of legal paperwork and legal expertise provided in this case.
Given the fact that Witteles was awarded $26,982 for his reimbursement claims, the $27,745 awarded to Brill is in the same bracket of legal costs for both parties. Brill has the right to appeal the ruling and push for more money if she wants to but it is highly unlikely that she will do so. Brill said that she was happy with the hearing and was glad that the court finally ordered Postle to pay money out of his pocket.
Brill and Witteles To Collect Funds On Her Own
There is a catch to the Judge’s ruling. Now that Veronica Brill has won the case and is owed $27,745 from Postle, it will be up to her to go after Mike Postle and get him to pay up. Witteles is also faced with the same predicament and together they will need to collect a total of $54,727 from Postle.
Mike Postle did not show up at the hearing this week and has given no indication if he plans to paying Witteles and Brill. Eric Benzamochan, who served as the legal defense for Witteles has promised to go after Wittles and collect the money on behalf of his client.
Veronica Brill was able to get legal help to contest the anti-SLAPP because hedge fund manager and high stakes poker player Bill Perkins decided to assist her financially. The money that Brill needs to collect will likely have to go to Perkins but Brill has stated in the past that any additional money she gets from Postle will be directed towards buying poker player KL Cleeton a specialized handicap van.
Brill’s attorney Randazza did not make any statement on whether he would pursue Postle to recover the funds. He made a statement in May 2021 and said it was crazy to see Postle file an anti-SLAPP lawsuit as it meant he got very bad advice from his non-lawyer friends or he hired piss poor lawyers who gave him poor counsel and did not even have the guts to make an appearance in the case.