Kind of a long read, but funny especially if you're not fond of the, "I'm an attorney and can sue you so bow down to my wishes" types.
First a little preface on the story. Several friends and I were on a dove lease last year. It was ok, not a ton of birds but not bad considering the price. We didn't go a lot but got on because the price was low and it provided us with a few thousand other acres to hunt on besides the places we normally go.
Fast forward to last week. The guy in charge of the lease, which is a hell of a nice guy btw, sends out an email to everyone on the lease telling them that it's time to sign back up if they are interested. There are over a hundred people on the lease and when he sent out the email instead of sending it to himself and BCC'ing everyone else in, he put their email addresses in the "TO" line. As soon as I saw that I knew there would be some public complaining from somebody.
A couple of hours afterwards it starts. There are three or four emails sent out to everybody complaining about this or that, mostly people that didn't see a lot of birds where they were at. Shortly following is an email from someone related to the guy leasing the land who happens to be an attorney.
| MR. ATTORNEY: That’s funny. I heard from a lot of the others that there was a lot |
To which another guy replied:
| RANDOM GUY: If those guys MR. ATTORNEY refers to below have good reports on this spot let’s hear it. Our experience was more hunters than birds in 4 trips toward the beginning of the season. |
Quickly followed by:
| MR. ATTORNEY: Let’s stop the slander and the tortuous interference. If they want to speak up so be it. But I’ve had enough of this, and if an example needs to get made then it shall. |
The following are all private emails between me and MR. ATTORNEY.
| ME: You being a lawyer and all I would think you would know this, but it's not slander if it's true. Also, the idle threats aren't helping your case much. |
MR. ATTORNEY: But they can be tortious interferernce with a contract or business interest. That's relatively new law here in Texas, especially with "reply to all" emails. And, LEASE GUY'S little brother (me) can afford to litigate for free. Plus, do you want to defend a slander suit?
And trust me, the fuse is short on this matter. When you interfere with someone's livelihood you elicit this type of response. This has been a totally dishonorable and unethical manner of handling this, and if it doesn't stop, I'm going to stop it. Hopefully, this is going to stop. |
MR. ATTORNEY: I omitted one fact: it's not an idle statement if its one you intend to follow if a course of action doesn't stop.
I would drop this if I was you. |
ME: So is that another threat?
Go ahead and get the ball rolling on the law suit. Sue me for sending you a private email and let's see how far that gets.
I've got nothing against LEASE GUY or the dove lease. I wasn't planning on renewing this year but only because I've got some other good spots to go to and I actually only used the lease two or three times last year.
You on the other hand seem like an arrogant ass. Your "reply to all" emails is the only reason I got involved. You should have handled the matter privately with the ones that were sending the "slanderous" emails. Also, don't think that just because you're an attorney that you're the only person around that gets to litigate "for free". You have no idea who I am.
If I were you, I would stop threatening me with some frivolous bullshit suit. I'll have you laughed out of court. |
MR. ATTORNEY: First, what you sent wasn't a 'private email.' It was a broadcast email of the variety that the courts are just now catching up to. If it it had been private I would have handled if differently.
Of course, litigation should be reserved as a last resort. Be sure to check your facts: someone else hit 'reply to all' and I defended my RELATIVE/client. LEASE GUY tells me its not a big deal losing you as a client, so I'm not worried about this too much.
But you should be very careful about making comments that could hurt someone's livelihood. You could very well find yourself in a situation where you're spending a large amount of money to defend yourself over something that in the grand scheme of things isn't worth it.
Now, if you feel the need to keep sending emails, go ahead. I'll print them, keep them, and see what LEASE GUY wants to do. |
ME: This is laughable. Go back and look at all of the emails that you've received from me, now look closely at the line marked "TO". In that line you will see you're email address and yours only. What that means is that the emails I have sent have only gone to you, except for the last one which I copied to LEASE GUY so that he could see what as ass you are being. I know this internet stuff is complicated so if you need further explination please let me know and I will provide it to you.
You have my express permission to print these emails, including the headers so that everyone can see that they are addressed only to you, and show them to whoever you want.
I have not and would never say anything negative about LEASE GUY or the lease because I don't have a problem with LEASE GUY and I was satisfied with the lease. I just have a thing about people running around threatening people in public which is what you've been doing.
Anyway, go back and do a little research on ALL of the emails I've sent today and I'll be waiting for my apology tomorrow when you see that I'm right. |
MR. ATTORNEY: Mr. ME:
If you have legal counsel, please forward their contact information, as ethically I must deal directly with your legal counsel. If not, please do so as soon as possible, unless you'll be representing yourself. I would appreciate your advising of same. |
| ME: Yes, I will forward their contact information as soon as you file your fictitious suit. Up to that point you're going to deal directly with me. |
I sent him this the next afternoon.
| ME: Did you forget about my apology or is your secretary still working on it? |
I haven't heard a word from him since last week.
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