I’m so ready

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:00]We got some solid deadlines coming from Amy Griffin.

[00:00:04]We now know when responses are coming to the complaint. Um, this is an acceptance of service for Penguin Random House and Dial Press. I think Dial Press is just an imprint of Penguin Random House. Um, their lawyer has accepted service. He accepted service, it looks like, on May 4th in California. It's 30 days to follow a response to the complaint. So, 30 days from May 4th is when their response is due. I already thought it was going to be some sort of pro-speech motion. And now, looking at this dude, I think that even more so. So, his name is David Laidman.

[00:00:44]And David, frankly, looks like the man.

[00:00:47]Like, if you're dealing with somebody trying to come after you for engaging in journalism or art or whatever, David is the guy that you would want.

[00:00:58]Um, he went to Columbia, then he went to law school, he was a journalist. He works at Davis Wright Tremaine, which is a really well-known law firm. Um, and he has all the credentials, but let me show you some of his cases that he has handled.

[00:01:13]So, this is just on his bio. It goes on for several pages, but you can see here, um, he's doing amicus briefs on behalf of 12 media organizations uh when the California Supreme Court is interpreting its anti-SLAPP statute.

[00:01:28]He's defending Los Angeles Times journalists. He defended the people who made that documentary, The Jinx, which is the um, when people were trying to get records from them. Um, he successfully convinced a judge that no, those are those are shielded by journalist privilege. This is This is the guy you would want if you were Penguin Random House.

[00:01:49]Um, it seems like this is the guy who is going to say, um, Penguin is is This is not Penguin's fault.

[00:01:58]Penguin didn't know. It's a memoir. They didn't fact-check. They're protected by free speech. They're putting out art.

[00:02:06]Leave them be.

[00:02:08]Now, Miss Griffin on the other hand, you may remember a couple of days ago, her lawyers who are from Wilkie Farr went to the court to try to get an extension of time for her to respond to the complaint. So, she has clearly accepted it also. Um and she was asking for these alternatives and the judge gave her the second one, which I think is the one that makes a lot more sense. This whole thing about, "We'll all file them together." Sorry, that's not going to happen, Amy. Like, you're going to you're going to have to go ahead and file your thing. Now, it looks like Penguin's is probably going to get on the docket before hers, but now Miss Griffin will respond to the complaint by June the 12th.

[00:02:46]Um and we don't think that Sam Lansky, the other remaining defendant, has even been served yet or last time we checked, they had not been able to serve him.

[00:02:55]So, all of these things are now coming in the next month. I think the most telling thing is that not only is Penguin represented by a totally different lawyer than Griffin, it does not appear that they are even communicating with each other, at least not very much. They are going to court on totally separate issues. Um I don't think they're going to file any kind of joint motion, um at least for now.

[00:03:20]Until I see whatever is filed, it appears that Penguin Random House is going to separate themsel- themselves from Griffin and say, "That's not our problem.

[00:03:32]She does what she does. We're just the platform. We're just the publisher.

[00:03:37]Leave us be." Um that is my guess about what is going to happen. So, I will put both of these things on the calendar and we will wait for them to roll in.