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Veronica Brill who was named as the lead defendant in anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) against Mike Postle had been awarded $27,745 in legal fees by a court in California. The Presiding Judge Shama H. Mesiwala decided to chop down original legal reimbursement fees filed by Brill and her team.
Brill and first amendment attorney Marc J. Randazza put in a claim for $78,600 but the judge quickly whittled down that amount saying there was not enough legal expertise or paperwork to merit those high charges. The ruling for this case was not very complicated as Mike Postle decided to drop his defamation lawsuit in April making it a frivolous case.
The Court had earlier ruled in favour of Brill-s co-defendant Todd Witteles in May 2021 and awarded him $26,982 in legal recovery fees.
Hence, it comes as no surprise that Brill has also been awarded a similar amount as the main difference in the case was that Brill’s ruling was postponed to June 2021 due to circumstances that had nothing to do with the anti-SLAPP hearing.
Veronica Brill has the right to appeal this ruling if she feels that the amount awarded is too less. Brill is unlikely to file an appeal as she said she was happy the Court had finally asked Mike Postle to make a payment. California laws regarding the anti-SLAPP ruling places the priority on Brill to collect the outstanding amount from Mike Postle.
When you combine the legal fees for both Witteles and Brill, Postle has a bill of $54,727 and it is most likely not going to be easy for them to recover these funds as Postle did not show up at the hearing this week. Eric Benzamochan who represented Witteles has promised to recover the funds for his client.
Mike Postle Received Poor Legal Advice
Postle filed his defamation case against 12 individuals and named Brill and Witteles as the main and co-defendant. The other 10 individuals just ignored the lawsuit while Brill and Witteles fought back to dismiss the lawsuit as frivolous.
Bill Perkins who has a reputation as a high stakes poker player and hedge fund manager is reported to have given Brill the funds to take legal action against Postle. Brill has stated in the past that if she recovered additional funds from Postle that went above her legal expenses, she would buy a special handicap van for poker player KL Cleeton.
