RSSJeff Knight?
It is in the opinion of the arbitrator that all of the witnesses were credible except for Mr. Jeffrey Knight, whose self-serving perspective trumped honesty and objectivity.”
-William R. Rapson, American Arbitration Association
He said that it didn’t matter if Hogan & Hartson wins this case because he was a boxer and an expert in martial arts and was going to “kick Hogan’s ass” if his demands weren’t met.
He made it clear that even if Hogan & Hartson prevails on its Motion to Dismiss, he was the “best marketing guy in the country” and he was going to start a public “shock and awe” campaign…He said the “shock and awe” he had previously predicted was still coming and it would be a “shit storm”.
What does the Wall Street Journal say?
WSJ.COM: “Hell Hath No Fury Like a Dissatisfied Hogan & Hartson Client“:
General Steel sued its former law firm Hogan & Hartson alleging breach of contract and other causes. Hogan & Hartson moved to dismiss General Steel’s complaint. During settlement discussions, General Steel threatened to run a ‘shock and awe’ campaign against it. Hogan brought the pending ad campaign to the attention of the court by moving for an extraordinary hearing in regard to its motion to dismiss.
The hearing apparently had no effect on the campaign, which is now running in, among other places, the NY Times. However the motion papers are an interesting discussion of (1) when the content of settlement discussions can be brought to a court’s attention; and (2) the proprietary of a party’s speech during a pending proceeding.
[this link here points to a PDF named shockandawe.pdf hosted on The Wall Street Journal's website and makes for some unbelievable reading. It showcases how arrogant and delusional Jeffrey Knight really is. Below are excerpts from the document...]
Mr. Knight complimented the defendants’ motions to dismiss, and said that plaintiffs “framed” their complaint as a breach of fiduciary duty claim for “strategic reasons” and “not just because of the statute of limitations.” He said that it didn’t matter if Hogan & Hartson wins this case because he was a boxer and an expert in martial arts and was going to “kick Hogan’s ass” if his demands weren’t met.
Plaintiff Jeffrey Knight has initiated a radio campaign and threatened to release a national media campaign in an attempt to extort a $2.5 million payment from Hogan & Hartson in this case. Mr. Knight has threatened that, regardless of the merits of Plaintiffs’ claims in this case, if payment is not made he will escalate what he describes as his “shock and awe” media campaign against Hogan & Hartson, increase the number of radio stations running ads about Hogan & Hartson, and seek to publicly humiliate Defendants Hogan & Hartson and Ty Cobb. He made it clear that even if Hogan & Hartson prevails on its Motion to Dismiss, he was the “best marketing guy in the country” and he was going to start a public “shock and awe” campaign against Hogan & Hartson if his demands were not met. He said that Hogan & Hartson probably thought this was a “shakedown,” but that if it was a “shakedown” he would want $50 million, not just $2.5 million.”
Plaintiffs made extraordinary threats against defendants on June 14, 2007. When Hogan & Hartson did not pay the $2.5 million settlement demand on June 14, Plaintiffs began a radio campaign to give Hogan & Hartson a taste of what was to come. Subsequently, on July 18, 2007, Plaintiff Knight threatened to escalate the publicity if Hogan & Hartson did not meet Plaintiff’s demands. Mr. Knight has made his position clear – he will use the pretext of gathering evidence for this pending lawsuit to escalate his media campaign and to extort a settlement despite his acknowledgment that Hogan & Hartson is likely to prevail on its pending Motion to Dismiss.
Mr. Knight said that to date General Steel had run ads on only two radio stations but he made it clear that if Hogan & Hartson didn’t pay his settlement demand of 2.5 million dollars he would run ads on 100 stations. He said the current ad campaign was just a “Tomahawk missile” compared to what was coming if Hogan & Hartson didn’t settle. He said the “shock and awe” he had previously predicted was still coming and it would be a “shit storm”.
Mr. Knight asked Hal Haddon and Saskia Jordan to relay his position to Hogan & Hartson. He said that “if they do not get it” then the “next salvo will be bigger and the one after will be bigger still.” Mr Knight said he will agree to do interviews on CNN, CNBC, and Fox and that “Ty Cobb can watch it on Dateline.”
