![]() ![]() This blog is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. Accordingly, do not act upon this information without seeking counsel from a licensed attorney. Any opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of Foley & Lardner LLP, its partners, or its clients. It is not meant to convey the Firm’s legal position on behalf of any client, nor is it intended to convey specific legal advice. This blog is made available by Foley & Lardner LLP (“Foley” or “the Firm”) for informational purposes only. The lessens for companies, in-house lawyers and the external lawyers who represent them in employment lawsuits and other high-profile matters are: (1) the ubiquitous nature of social and other media in 2019 makes extortion tactics easier (2) do not assume that extortion in high-profile matters or litigation is business-as-usual or needs to be tolerated (3) in the desire to avoid publicity or embarrassing facts, do not become complicit in the threats by acceding to shady arrangements. The Avenatti saga should be a cautionary tale for high-profile plaintiffs’ attorneys. However, if the methods used – false information, publicity, grossly exaggerated economic demands with a flimsy connection to the claim, and unusual payments directly to the attorney threatening to file a criminal complaint – are illegitimate, such conduct could cross the line between aggressive and zealous advocacy and extortion. The mere threat to file a lawsuit, even a meritless lawsuit with obvious economic ramifications, generally is not deemed to be extortion. ![]() And the line between hard bargaining and extortion may not be crystal clear. If the demands were met, he promised confidentiality and that his client would “ride off into the sunset.” Federal prosecutors called this conduct “an old-fashioned shakedown.”īeyond the incendiary facts, the fascinating aspect of this case is that the express or explicit threat of public disclosure and publicity is often present in high-profile cases, especially employment matters such as sexual harassment. Among even more colorful and profane language, according to the complaint, Avenatti allegedly stated, “I’ll go and I’ll go take 10 billion dollars off your client’s market cap… I’m not around.” One of the alleged extortion methods was an unsolicited offer that Avenatti and an unnamed co-conspirator would conduct an “internal investigation” for which Avenatti and his co-conspirator would be paid $15 to 25 million. According to the complaint, he demanded that the monies be paid quickly, and announced a press conference on his Twitter feed at which time he would expose Nike. In a federal court complaint filed in the Southern District of New York, the government accuses Avenatti of extortion by threatening to publicly release, through a press conference and otherwise, damaging information about the misconduct of Nike employees unless Nike made multimillion dollar payments to Avenatti and a significant payment to his client. slang expression dates from the late 19th century.The criminal complaint filed against Michael Avenatti is an interesting reminder that the line between extortion and settlement negotiations is a thin one. Just as the frying process removes excess fat, so does extortion or high-pressure fund-raising tactics remove the “fat” or excess wealth from the affluent. ![]() The significance of money to most people, and the fact that it can be paid out with or without force, makes the figurative use of bleed relating to money a logical extension of the literal meaning.įry the fat out of To obtain money by high-pressure tactics or extortion to milk, put the squeeze on. Whether bleeding was natural or surgically induced, loss of blood was significant. This slang term has been in use since the 17th century, at which time bleeding was a common surgical practice. Thus, to badger came to mean ‘to worry, pester, or harass,’ and, more intensively, in the sense above, ‘to persecute or blackmail.’ The woman decoy in the badger game is called the badger-worker.īleed To extort money from an individual or an organization to pay an unreasonable amount of money to pay through the nose. The expression, in common use in the United States since the early 1900s, arose from the cruel sport of badger baiting, in which a live badger was placed in a hole or a barrel so that it could be easily attacked by dogs. Badger game Extortion, blackmail, intimidation achieved through deception most specifically, the scheme in which a woman entices a man into a compromising situation, and then victimizes him by demanding money when her male accomplice, often pretending to be the enraged husband, arrives on the scene, threatening violence or scandal.
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