Victoria Strauss -- Robert Fletcher's Lawsuit Against Writer Beware Ruled Frivolous

In February 2008, Robert Fletcher and his company, The Literary Agency Group (a fee-charging literary agency/editing company/vanity publishing company currently doing business as Writers' Literary Agency/AEG Publishing Group, about which Writer Beware has been receiving complaints since 2001) brought suit against me and Ann Crispin, claiming that the warnings we were providing about the company constituted defamation.

On March 18, 2009, that suit was dismissed with prejudice by the Massachusetts Superior Court, due to Fletcher's failure to respond to discovery or otherwise prosecute the lawsuit.

Subsequently, through counsel, we filed a motion in Massachusetts Superior Court seeking recovery of our legal fees and expenses. We're thrilled to announce that on July 31, 2009, our motion was granted.

The full ruling (which, despite the July date, we just received today) can be seen here, but here's the salient portion:

The plaintiffs have exhibited extreme bad faith in bringing this frivolous lawsuit for the sole purpose of causing great expense and harassment to Crispin and Strauss. Fletcher expressly states that it was his purpose in his emails. The Court concludes and finds that this case was brought in bad faith by the plaintiffs for the mere purpose of causing great inconvenience and financial costs to Crispin and Strauss (as set out in Fletcher's pre-lawsuit emails to the defendants). This case is frivolous and this Court finds so, finds that the two plaintiffs and their lawyer, Jerrold G. Neeff, knew it was frivolous before it was even commenced. This Court rules that the defendants, Ann Crispin and Victoria Strauss, are entitled to have all their legal fees and expenses incurred paid to them by the plaintiffs, Robert Fletcher and The Literary Agency Group.

This Court finds the claims asserted by the plaintiffs to be wholly insubstantial, frivolous, and not advanced in good faith.

Fletcher and his companies remain the subjects of an active investigation by the Florida Attorney General's Office.