A recent libel suit filed by attorney Mark Geragos against the Los Angeles Times has come to an abrupt end. The suit concerned the Times’ reportage on payouts from a $37 million settlement for Armenian Genocide victims, which was also under investigation by the State Bar. A Californian state judge has now concluded this case, finding no instance where the Times’ reporters outright accused Geragos of criminal activity like misappropriation, theft, or embezzlement.
In Geragos’s initial accusation, the attorney focused on the Times’s framing of the payout proceedings and his legal behaviours within them. The eventual $37 million settlement was designed to offer compensation to descendants of Armenian Genocide victims.
However, the coverage by the Los Angeles Times seemingly prompted a State Bar investigation – an aspect that Geragos took serious issue with and which led to the filing of his libel suit. The now concluded case, nonetheless, did not find the Times to have wrongfully implicated Geragos in any criminal activity.
The judge’s order, made public this Tuesday, highlighted that the accusations Geragos claimed to be implied in the Times’s reporting – theft, misappropriation, and embezzlement – were never actually made.
This lawsuit and its conclusion highlight the often precarious relationship between the press, their coverage of sensitive disputes, and their subjects. Legal professionals worldwide keep a close watch on such cases that potentially pose risks to press freedom versus protection of personal reputation.
For more information about this recently concluded legal battle, visit the full article on Law360.