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posted by martyb on Tuesday May 23 2017, @03:28PM   Printer-friendly
from the slowly-grinding-wheels-of-justice dept.

Prenda Law attorney John Steele has been disbarred by the Illinois Supreme Court:

After admitting to several criminal acts, including the operation of a piracy honeypot, Prenda Law attorney John Steele has now been disbarred by the Illinois Supreme Court. As a result, the troubled attorney will no longer be allowed to practice law in the state. While the decision doesn't come as a surprise, several victims of the trolling operation will welcome it with a smile.

Over the years, copyright trolls have been accused of involvement in various dubious schemes and actions, but there's one group that has gone above and beyond.

Prenda Law grabbed dozens of headlines, mostly surrounding negative court rulings over identity theft, misrepresentation and even deception. Most controversial was the shocking revelation that Prenda uploaded their own torrents to The Pirate Bay, creating a honeypot for the people they later sued over pirated downloads.

The allegations also raised the interest of the US Department of Justice, which indicted Prenda principals John Steele and Paul Hansmeier late last year. The two stand accused of running a multi-million dollar fraud and extortion operation.

A few weeks ago Steele pleaded guilty, admitting among other things that they did indeed use The Pirate Bay to operate a honeypot for online pirates. Following the guilty plea the Illinois Supreme Court, which started looking into the case long before the indictment, has now decided to disbar the attorney. This means that Steele no longer has the right to practice law.

Also at Ars Technica.

Previously:
Appeals Court Slams Prenda Law
Appeals Court: Shell Game Over, Prenda Law Must Pay Sanctions in Full
Prenda-Linked Copyright Trolling Lawyer Paul Duffy Dead at Age 55
Smut-Seeding Prenda Law Ringleader Told to Sell his House to Pay $2.9M Debt
Prenda's Paul Hansmeier Loses his Law License; Won't be Filing Bogus ADA Lawsuits for Now
Prenda Law "Copyright Trolls" Finally Getting Their Comeuppance
Indicted Prenda Lawyer Also Under FBI Investigation


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 23 2017, @04:31PM (7 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 23 2017, @04:31PM (#514353)

    These dirty attorneys still get away with millions before they are disbarred. What is there to laugh at unless all that gets taken away?

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 23 2017, @05:15PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 23 2017, @05:15PM (#514384)

    What is there to laugh at unless all that gets taken away?

    These clowns aren't big enough to hire lobbyists so the feds will probably seize every dime as proceeds of the criminal operation. That's the way "justice" works on the federal level.

    • (Score: 2) by NewNic on Tuesday May 23 2017, @05:34PM (1 child)

      by NewNic (6420) on Tuesday May 23 2017, @05:34PM (#514406) Journal

      In this case, a lot of money went abroad and is untraceable. I suspect that Steele may come out of it financially ahead.

      Having a record of being disbarred, even if he gets his license back, is going to limit future earnings, so he may lose out over the long term.

      --
      lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
      • (Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday May 23 2017, @06:46PM

        by frojack (1554) on Tuesday May 23 2017, @06:46PM (#514454) Journal

        Limit his future earnings?

        From all accounts, he himself was his only client!!!

        Had he been required to hire a lawyer he could never have afforded to attack all the people he did. He used the law like a cudgel.
        Lawyers should be legally prevented from representing themselves. It is after all, their number one recommendation.

        Still, this ruling won't prevent him from representing himself Pro se [wikipedia.org]

        which the wiki article suggests is becoming more and more common. Pro se representation seems to be the universal choice of last resort used by jailed prisoners. They got nothing better to do.

        The outcomes are, by all accounts, not all that great. See last chart here. [courtstatistics.org]

         

        --
        No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 23 2017, @05:28PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 23 2017, @05:28PM (#514403)

    They should cut his nuts off so he can't procreate.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 24 2017, @12:27AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 24 2017, @12:27AM (#514599)

      Won't that affect his briefs?

  • (Score: 2) by kaszz on Tuesday May 23 2017, @05:42PM (1 child)

    by kaszz (4211) on Tuesday May 23 2017, @05:42PM (#514415) Journal

    The justice system is so slow that it allow people to have their lives ruined before they react. Obviously they are insufficient.

    Another point of view is that the bar association disowned the lawyer in order to stay afloat themselves.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 23 2017, @09:28PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 23 2017, @09:28PM (#514532)

      We do not have a justice system. We have a legal system.