Paul Ceglia might be playing games with the lawyers and judge as far as discovery is concerned, but I’m hearing from multiple sources that he has effectively sold shares in his lawsuit to various people who were willing to “invest” in his litigation and “own” a piece of his supposedly anticipated judgment or settlement recovery.
It also helps a reputed grifter fund a very costly hail Mary of a litigation.
Apparently, that’s not illegal, or a violation of a lawyer’s ethical rules. I think it’s unfortunate when the direction of a lawsuit is directed by someone who is neither a party nor his attorney. It may also explain why this apparent disaster of a case is still kicking.
What ever you think of this guy he does have skills — now if he only directed them in a more positive and “legitimate” way he could be King-of-the-world or a saint.
Pundit, thanks for that link to the July Buffalo News article, which I somehow missed at the time. Wow — “reputed grifter” is putting it about as nicely as possible.
Interesting question of Champerty and Maintenance–kind of depends on who ends up calling the shots in the case.
The question may be soon mooted, as Ceglia has apparently instructed his attorneys that he will not comply with the court’s recent discovery order. In Federal Court, that is often the harbinger of a dismissal for failure to play nice, under Rule 26.