Ben Brody, plaintiff in a Texas defamation lawsuit against Elon Musk, has claimed that Musk’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, should face sanctions due to his conduct during the billionaire’s deposition. Brody has described Spiro’s behavior as “astonishingly unprofessional.”
Brody has been suing Musk for a tweet that falsely identified him as part an alleged “false flag” conspiracy theory. As per the lawsuit, Brody was misidentified in social media posts as an undercover federal agent posing as a neo-Nazi street brawler, a notion furthered by Musk. Spiro has been accused of obstructing Musk’s March 27 video deposition in the case via regular interruptions and mockery of the opposition’s counsel.
“Spiro, a Madison Avenue celebrity lawyer, does not feel compelled to obey our rules,” Brody stated in a legal motion. “He has seriously overstepped his bounds”. Spiro has forged a reputation for his hard-charging tactics and has represented Musk and other billionaires in the past, including in Musk’s $44 billion purchase of X (formerly Twitter) and successfully defended against a 2019 lawsuit over a Musk tweet.
Mark Bankston, Brody’s lawyer, claimed Alex Spiro engaged in “abusive litigation conduct.” He accused him of interrupting questions and guiding Musk not to answer queries relevant to the case during the deposition. Bankston also disclosed that Spiro had filed a motion requesting the deposition to remain confidential without securing a protective order in the case.
In response to being accused of flouting Texas Bar rules, Spiro reportedly mocked Bankston, asking if Bankston gives these types of lectures at all his depositions. The interruptions were so frequent that Bankston alleges Spiro effectively “shut down” many segments of the deposition, hence abusing discovery procedures.
In 2022, Bankston had assisted the parents of a Sandy Hook victim in winning a $45 million judgement against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Last year, in Texas, Brody filed a lawsuit against Musk following Musk’s tweet in June 2023 that ended up endorsing the conspiracy theory against Brody, consequently leading to harassment aimed at Brody and his family.
Following this incident, Musk has submitted a motion to dismiss under the Texas Citizens Participation Act, a state free speech law. The March 27 court-ordered video deposition was still underway while this motion is being considered by the Texas court.
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